Kenya's shilling and Uganda's shilling will be stable against the dollar in the next week, while the Tanzanian shilling has a mixed outlook, traders said on Wednesday.
KENYA Kenya's shilling was expected to stay within a range in the next week to Wednesday largely due to a slowdown in activity ahead of the Christmas holidays. The commercial banks posted the shilling at 74.75/85 against the dollar compared with last Wednesday's close of 74.40/50. The unit was likely to trade within a band of 74.00-75.00 against the greenback in the next week to Wednesday, traders said.
TANZANIA Traders were mixed on whether the Tanzanian shilling would strengthen next week as the holiday season kicks in. Commercial banks quoted the local unit at 1,336/1,340 to the dollar compared with 1,340/1,345 at last Wednesday's close. "Though I tend to think of 1340 as some sort of a barrier I think we could push through it to 1339/1344 next week," said a trader with Stanbic Bank Tanzania.
Other traders thought next week would bring a correction, as some of the shilling's weakness had been attributed to last week's falls across emerging market currencies in the wake of the Dubai debt delays.
UGANDA Uganda's shilling was expected to hold steady against the dollar as muted demand for the US currency is evenly matched by inflows from offshore investors, traders said. Leading commercial banks in Kampala quoted the shilling at 1,862/1,867 per dollar compared with last Wednesday's rate of 1,873/1,878.
Traders forecast the shilling would trade in the 1,855-1,885 range in the days ahead. "We might still see a stronger shilling going forward. We expect some inflows from offshore investors interested in next week's Treasury bond auction," said Denis Mushabe Mashanyu, a trader with Standard Chartered Bank Uganda.