BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes
THE financial market expects the Kwacha to trade within the new narrow range of 12.000 to 12.300 going in to the first week of April. Barclays Bank Zambia indicated that the Kwacha held steady against the dollar on Thursday but was expected to lose some ground due to increased demand for the foreign currency by importers in anticipation of a weaker Kwacha. The market closed at its opening levels of K12.150/12.200 per dollar on the bid and offer respectively as demand and supply was evenly matched on the day. The local unit is likely trade with a bias to gain this week. The Kwacha closed weaker in Thursday’s trading session at 12.150/12.200 per dollar, after having opened trading at 12.075/12.125. The Kwacha’s weakness was due to uncertainity in the market resulting in panic buying of dollars. Meanwhile, the volumes of funds traded dropped by 24.7 percent to K225 million from K299 million seen the other day and market liquidity was also down by 13.5 percent at K1.356 Billion from K1.567.
The cost of borrowing funds on the interbank still held firm at 9.92 percent on the day.
