Kwacha depreciates further

Zambia’s currency, the Kwacha, is expected to continue trading range bound between K5.450 and K5.550 on the interbank due to unchanged demand for the United States Dollar, the Zambia National Commercial Bank (ZANACO) has said.

This is after the local unit suffered a reversal in fortunes against the greenback as it lost nearly all the gains made during last week Thursday’s trading.

In its treasury newsletter for July 03, 2013, ZANACO reveals that the local unit opened interbank trading at K5.440 and 5.460 against Thursday’s close of K5.445 and K5.465 for bid and offer respectively.

“Sustained corporate demand for the greenback on the back of light dollar inflows resulted in the Kwacha depreciating quickly to breach the K5.500 psychological barrier. The local unit ended trading at K5.480/5.500, down by KR0.040 on the day,” the bank said.

Similarly, Barclays Bank Zambia in its market update for Wednesday July 03, said the Kwacha lost 20 points on Friday to close at K5.475 and K5.495 for bid and offer respectively.

The bank says this was on the back of moderate demand from the market.

Meanwhile, London copper prices fell 0.69 percent to $6,703 per tonne on Friday on the London Metal Exchange.