Shilling remains unchanged against dollar

FOREX

On Friday, the local unit remained unchanged trading at 3,584/94 buying and selling respectively in Kampala. This was the same as Thursday's close of business.

"This was due to low appetite for dollars from commercial banks, energy firms, manufacturers and telecoms companies," Simon Kasirye a trader along Mukwano Arcade in Kampala city said.

Stephen Kaboyo, financial expert said the Uganda shilling was stable on the back of some inflows mainly from commodities against lackluster demand from market players.

"Some pockets of demand were expected late in the week, but not significant to change the trend," Kaboyo said.

In fixed income market, there was no auction due to cancellation of all auctions till the end of the financial year.

Kaboyo added: "Outlook of the shilling indicate a stable unit with a bias towards a mild appreciation as the supply side improves on end month conversions."

In the commodities markets, oil prices plummeted to 45.91 US dollars on uncertainty regarding the deal to cut global output.

The Ugandan shilling exchanged at 3,999.32 and 4,010.47 buying and selling to the Euro.

Regionally, the unit traded at 34.59 buying and 34.69 selling to the Kenyan shilling; and 1.6/ 1.61 buying and selling respectively to the Tanzanian shilling.