Latest: Ugandan shilling stable

MONEY MATTERS

The Ugandan shilling was unchanged against the dollar and other major currencies on Tuesday.
 
Commercial banks quoted the local unit at 3,590/3,600 unchanged from Monday's close.
 
This means that the shilling was stable on Tuesday,

The shilling strengthened last week and touched a three-week high on account of improved forex inflows mainly from portfolio investors and unwinding of long dollar positions by commercial banks.
 
Last week, trading was in the range of 3585/3600.
 
"The shilling is stable because the corporate dollar demand is very silent," said Ivan Mugabe, a trader at Mukwano Arcade in the heart of the city.
 
"The shilling is a bit in scarcity nowadays. We are anticipating that it will probably remain anchored around its current position with some possible downward movement."
 
In the international currency markets, Alpha Capital Partners CEO Stephen Kaboyo said the US dollar slumped to a seven-week low against the major currencies following President Trump's comments that the dollar was too strong.
 
"This spurred a selling spree in the financial markets, putting the dollar on the back foot," he said.
 
However Kaboyo noted that the dollar was later boosted by Federal Reserve chairperson Janet Yellen's hints of multiple interest rate hikes in the coming months.
 
In the government securities market, yields came off across all tenors. The benchmark 91-day treasury bill dropped to 13.298% while the 182 and 364-day treasury bills followed the same trend to trade at 14.218% and 14.796% respectively.
 
Kaboyo said that in the coming days the shilling is expected to remain range-bound due to relatively subdued market activity, in a short trading week.