• The Kwacha has continued gaining from last week’s performance.
• The appreciation is largely driven by low demand for dollars on the market.
• Last week the Kwacha appreciated by 1.1 percent which was the highest in the last 8 weeks.
The Zambian Kwacha has continued to demonstrate its overall stability for two consecutive weeks.
Financial analysts say the appreciation of the Kwacha against international currencies such as the US dollar is a positive development which cannot be downplayed.
The appreciation of the local unit has been attributed to improved United States dollar supply on the interbank market against limited demand for the greenback.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, an Economist said there has been low demand for dollars on the market whereas the Central Bank has been increasing its supply of the greenback since the recent appreciation of the local unit.
Dr. Patrick Chileshe noted that last week, the Kwacha appreciated by 1.1 percent, the highest rate in the last 8 weeks.
“The Kwacha has continued gaining from last week’s performance largely driven by low demand for dollars on the market whereas Bank of Zambia has been increasing its supply of dollars since the recent appreciation of the Kwacha. Last week the Kwacha appreciated by 1.1 percent which was the highest in the last 8 weeks,” Dr. Chileshe noted.
And Dr. Chileshe said the local currency is this week expected to be more stable with a minimal appreciation rate of about 0.5 percent.
“So for this week we expect the Kwacha to largely stabilize with a small bias to appreciate basically due to low dollar demand on the market in the midst of improved supply. This week what we are seeing is more of a stable Kwacha, probably with a small appreciation of about 0.5 percent,” he added.
On Friday last week, the local unit opened and closed the market trading at K17.47 ngwee and K17.82.
Today, Tuesday April 12, 2022, the US dollar is buying at K17.39 ngwee and selling at K17.74 ngwee.
