GHANA: Ghana's cedi is expected to hold steady against the dollar next week, supported by an inflow of greenbacks from mining firms and offshore investors preparing to buy a 3-year bond on sale next month. The Bank of Ghana said on Tuesday it would issue 400 million cedis worth of 3-year government bonds in mid-January to retire maturing papers. It will be the first auction since elections in the west African country last week. The cedi has been trading in the broad 1.8800-1.8900 band in the past two weeks.
KENYA: Kenya's shilling is expected to stabilise against the dollar next week as Kenyans living abroad send hard currency home for the holidays amid lower importer dollar demand. The shilling traded at 85.75/86.00 per dollar, barely moved from last Thursday's close. "We may see an uptick in dollar inflows from the diaspora with not much demand from corporates," said Duncan Kinuthia, head of trading at Commercial Bank of Africa. Remittances are a key source of hard currency for the east African nation. It received $876.3 million in such inflows in the first nine months of this year, compared with the $891.1 million received in the whole of 2011. Tourists, who usually flock to the country's game reserves in December, could also boost dollar inflows, traders said. The sector earned Kenya $1.2 billion in 2011.
TANZANIA: Tanzania's shilling is expected to hold firm against the dollar in the days ahead, supported by a slowdown in importer greenback demand ahead of the holidays, traders said. On Thursday, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 1,595/1,605 to the dollar, up from 1,602/1,608 a week ago.
"The shilling has strengthened a bit from last week mostly due to conversions of dollars to the local currency by corporates for end-of-year obligations," said Patrick Kapella, chief dealer at FNB Bank Tanzania. "The shilling will likely be stable next week as people will continue to make currency conversions to cover those obligations." Market participants said they expected the shilling to trade in a tight band of 1,590-1,600 next week.
UGANDA: Uganda's shilling is expected to gain slightly against the dollar next week due to low greenback demand as business activity tails off towards the end of the year. Commercial banks quoted the currency of Africa's leading coffee exporter at 2,670/2,680, up from its 2,690/2,700 close a week ago. The shilling, which is down 7.2 percent against the dollar this year, could also be hurt by Standard and Poor's decision to downgrade Uganda's outlook to negative from stable on Tuesday, citing the aid cuts.