The new naira notes
Kenya’s currency is expected to strengthen against the dollar in the next week to Thursday, those of Ghana and Uganda could fall, and Nigeria’s and Zambia’s should be little changed, traders said.
KENYA
Kenya’s shilling is forecast to gain ground, helped by dollar inflows from remittances.
Commercial banks traded the shilling at 129.15/35 per dollar, compared with last Thursday’s close of 129.20/40.
GHANA
Ghana’s cedi could extend its gradual depreciation on strong corporate foreign-currency demand.
LSEG data showed the cedi trading at 11.42 to the dollar on Thursday, compared to 11.34 a week earlier.
Ronald Mensah, a trader at Stanbic Bank Ghana, said the bias was still to the downside for the cedi.
“The FX auctions keep coming in oversubscribed, which tells you underlying demand hasn’t really let up, and there’s not much on the horizon suggesting that eases anytime soon,” he added.
Another trader said the dollar was likely to maintain the edge against the local currency because of FX demand from energy and services companies.
UGANDA
Uganda’s shilling is seen weakening on slowing hard-currency inflows from commodities like coffee and elevated demand from energy importers.
Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,690/3,700 to the dollar compared to last Thursday’s close of 3,660/3,670.
“On the one hand we have tight flows from the commodities side while on the demand side we are seeing strong appetite from fuel importers,” a trader said.
NIGERIA
Nigeria’s naira is expected to hold broadly steady, supported by central bank dollar sales and foreign-currency inflows.
The unit was quoted at 1,374 to the dollar on the official market on Thursday, little changed from 1,375 a week ago.
The currency was changing hands at around 1,395 to the dollar in street trading .
“The CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) support combined with foreign inflows drawn by attractive treasury yields should help anchor naira stability, with scope to even strengthen a bit next week,” a trader said.
ZAMBIA
Zambia’s kwacha is likely to trade around its current levels, bolstered by tax payments.
On Thursday the kwacha was quoted at 18.31 per dollar, compared with 18.45 a week earlier.
“We have Value Added Tax and Withholding Tax payments due next week, and this should support the local currency,” a financial analyst said.
REUTERS
