• Last week the Kwacha depreciated about 0.09 percent compared to about 0.08 percent the previous week.
• Key factors that are having an impact on the Kwacha include the strengthening of the US dollar globally.
• The local currency is this week expected to slightly weaken.

An Economist says one of key factors that are having an impact on the performance of the Zambian Kwacha is the strengthening of the United States Dollar on the global market.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, Dr. Patrick Chileshe noted that the US dollar has continued to strengthen against major convertible currencies and this had a spill-over effect into other currencies such as the Zambian Kwacha, while other factors have largely remained the same.
Dr. Chileshe however said last week, the pace of depreciation slightly picked up compared to the previous week.
“Generally, what we saw last week is that the pace of depreciation picked up slightly compared to the previous week. Last week we saw the Kwacha depreciate just about 0.09 percent compared to about 0.08 percent the previous week. We saw the Kwacha open trading at 22.55 and closed at 22.57 on the interbank market.”
“So largely, the key factors that are having an impact on the performance of the Kwacha included the strengthening of the US dollar globally. We saw the US dollar continue to strengthen against major convertible currencies and that had a spill-over effect into other currencies such as the Zambian Kwacha,” Dr. Chileshe noted.
He further observed that the last week’s drop in Copper prices on the international market from about USD 9, 900 per tonne to USD 9, 500 per tonne, and an increase in demand for the US dollar also had a negative effect on the local currency.
“We saw Copper prices drop by about 3.6 percent from about USD 9, 900 per tonne to USD 9, 500 per metric tonne and that was occasioned by lower demand for commodities on the international market, and we believe these events worked together to have a negative effect on the Zambian Kwacha. Moreover, we have also seen an increase in terms of demand for the US dollar and that is having a negative effect on the Kwacha,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dr. Chileshe said the local currency is this week expected to slightly weaken following the continued strengthening of the US dollar against major convertible currencies.
“This week we are expected to see the Kwacha continue on the back foot. We expect the Kwacha to actually depreciate slightly, and the key factors that will inform this are what is currently happening on the global market, we are seeing the US dollar strengthening, the dollar is gaining value against most major currencies and we are likely to see that continue to spill over into emerging market currencies such as the Zambian Kwacha. So essentially, we are likely to see a slightly weaker Kwacha this week,” Dr. Chileshe added.