Zambian Kwacha on market exchange

The Kwacha last Friday weakened against the US dollar due to an increase in demand from corporate and interbank players.

According to the Cavmont Bank market report for Friday 24^th January 2014, the local currency opened on a sound note buying at 5.500 and selling at 5.530 before depreciating to buy at 5.520 and selling at 5.550.

The market report indicates that the Kwacha is likely to continue trading within current levels in the short term despite its recent weaknesses.

The report further states that the country’s inflation rate remained stable at 7.1 percent with Copper posting a slight increase of 25 Cents to trade at USD 7,285.50 per metric tonne while crude oil traded at USD 97.32 per barrel on the Commodities Market.

The report also shows that the yield rate for Treasury Bills stood at 7.99 percent and 15.40 percent for the period 91 days and 364 days respectively.

Government Bonds rates were 14 percent for 2 years and a18 percent for a maximum investment period of 15 years.

And the report reveals that the cost of interbank borrowing and lending rose by 0.11 percent to 9.53 percent while funds traded on interbank were K205 million.