Kenyan and Ugandan currencies seen steady, Ghana's could slip
KAMPALA, Sept 5 (Reuters) -The Kenyan and Ugandan shillings are expected to hold steady against the dollar in the next week to Thursday, while Ghana's cedi and Zambia's kwacha could fall, traders said.
KENYA
Kenya's shilling KES= is seen broadly stable, with dollar supply from remittances and tea exports matching demand from general goods importers.
Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 128.50/129.50 per dollar, compared with 128.25/129.25 at last Thursday's close.
"We will just continue to trade within this range," one trader said.
Traders said the central bank had been buying dollars on the foreign exchange market over the past three weeks, preventing the shilling from strengthening.
The bank says it has no preferred rate for the shilling and only intervenes to smooth out volatility in either direction.
GHANA
Ghana's cedi GHS= is likely to edge lower as demand for dollars continues to outpace supply despite central bank support.
LSEG data showed the cedi trading at 15.62 to the dollar versus 15.60 a week ago.
"The cedi has weakened in recent sessions as FX liquidity thinned. FX demand has been mainly from the manufacturing sector. The central bank has provided decent FX support to the market ... however, this has not prevented the pair from rising," said Sedem Dornoo, a senior trader at Absa Bank Ghana.
"In the coming week, we expect more of the same," he added.
UGANDA
Uganda's shilling UGX= is expected to hold steady, helped by a broad-based slump in hard-currency demand.
Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,715/3,725 to the dollar, compared to last Thursday's close of 3,710/3,720.
"Demand generally has slowed down especially from the importer side, ... that's unlikely to improve until ... the last quarter," one trader said.
He said appetite for dollars was expected to pick up significantly only around the start of October when importers seek extra hard currency to ship in goods for December shoppers.
ZAMBIA
Zambia's kwacha ZMW= is likely to remain under pressure due to rising foreign-currency demand from importers as supply dwindles.
On Thursday the kwacha was quoted at 26.30 per dollar from 25.96 a week ago.
"The local unit is expected to continue facing headwinds ... as a demand-supply mismatch persists," Zambia National Commercial Bank said in a note.
Reporting by George Obulutsa, Elias Biryabarema, Chris Mfula and Christian Akorlie
Editing by Alexander Winning
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