Kwacha remains buoyant

By BUSINESS REPORTER THE Kwacha is likely to trade between K9.300 and K9.450 in the short term should there be strong demand from offshore investors to participate in the upcoming bond auction.

On Thursday, the local unit appreciated against the dollar on touching an intra-day high of K9.450 / K9.500 compared to Wednesday's trading session when it closed K9.500 / K9.550.

According to Cavmont Bank Zambia daily market report, the Kwacha's performance for Thursday trading session was also boosted by tight Kwacha liquidity in the money markets.

By noon, the pair was seen trading at K9.500 / K9.550, a level it maintained until close of business.

“Having hit the $1/K9.500 level, the local unit is likely to trade between $1/K9.300 and $1/K9.450 in the short term should there be strong demand from offshore investors to participate in the auction,” read the report.

According to Cavmont Bank Zambia, there is continued anticipation from importers who had a stronger Kwacha on the backdrop of the upcoming local bond auction and the local unit touched an intra-day low of K9.480 / K9.530.

The local currency maintained the day's opening levels of K9.520 / K9.5700 on the interbank bid and offer respectively.

On the money market, commercial banks' aggregate current account decreased by K54.40 million to K489.37 million while the overnight borrowing and lending rate increased by 0.11 percent to 9.30 percent.

Total funds therefore traded on Interbank were K456.00 million.