On September 1, 2019, the Ugandan shilling was expected to weaken next week due to elevated demand for dollars from importers of goods like textiles, electronics, and leather products.
According to an independent foreign exchange trader in Kampala, the shilling would trade between 3,685 and 3,710, likely on the weaker side. This is because importers typically increase their demand for dollars around September.
On the other hand, Tanzania's shilling was expected to gain as inflows from tourism and agriculture increased. Commercial banks quoted the shilling at 2,292/2,302 on Thursday, up from 2,293 to 2,303 recorded last week.
A trader in Dar es Salaam told Reuters, "The shilling has been stable for the last two weeks and it keeps appreciating. We expect more stability and further appreciation next week due to increase in inflows from the tourism sector as we are in the tourism season and from agriculture exports."
He also expects demand to be driven by energy and manufacturing. The Kenyan shilling, however, will be under pressure in the coming week amid demand for dollars from energy and manufacturing companies.
At 1048 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 103.45/65 per dollar, compared with 103.10/30 at last Thursday's close. A senior trader from one commercial bank said, "The driving factor would be liquidity and end of month demand... we've seen the regulator intervening aggressively on the money market side."
The Nigerian naira was also expected to gain next week following the end of loan repayments and dividend repatriation season and improvement in dollar liquidity as the central bank auctions debt.
