• In April the Kwacha depreciated by 0.95% compared to May in which it depreciated by 0.86%.
• Depreciating rate for May is up to the 28th of the month.
• The Central bank increased the amount of FX supply to the market.

An Economist says the Kwacha performed relatively better this month than in April as it depreciated by 0.95 percent and 0.86 percent respectively.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, Chewe Mwila noted that the depreciating rate for this month is up to last week Friday, 28th May, 2021.
Ms. Mwila attributed the slight improvement in the performance of the local unit to the Bank of Zambia’s decision to increase the amount of Foreign Exchange or FX supply to the market.
“In April, the Kwacha depreciated by 0.95 percent compared to May in which it depreciated by 0.86 percent. What you have to note is that the depreciating rate for May, since we haven’t concluded the month, is up to the 28th of May, which is last week Friday. Looking at that, we can state that the Kwacha performed relatively better in May than in April,” she stated.
She said the Central bank has been coming in the market selling foreign Exchange in order to stabilize the currency or moderate the depreciating rate.
“The Central bank has been coming in the market selling foreign Exchange in order to stabilize the Kwacha, or moderate the depreciating rate of the Kwacha. But in the previous month we saw that the rate at which they were supplying, fell especially in February and March but picked up in April and May. They supplied more dollars to the market and that moderated the depreciating rate of the Kwacha,” Ms. Mwila noted.
As market opened this week, the Kwacha was quoted at K22.30 and K22.72, to the dollar and held the same levels until closure.