By Agency Reporter

Tuesday, 4 Jan 2011

The Ugandan shilling was unchanged against the dollar on Monday as business got off to a slow start after end of year festivities.

Commercial banks in Kampala quoted the local currency at 2,310/2,315, the same level it closed on Friday, Reuters said on Monday.

Traders anticipated no major change throughout the day.

”There‘s no activity at all because business is just beginning, the holiday mood will take time to tail off for business to return to its brisk normal pace,” said Head of Market Making at Barclays Bank Uganda, Faisal Bukenya.

”The local unit is biased towards a weaker shilling though we expect a slow start as players resume work,” said a market report from Standard Chartered Bank Uganda.

Traders said dollar demand was expected to pick up in coming weeks as local companies will repatriate dividends to investors outside the country.

Central Bank of Uganda said on Monday it had come to the market for a reverse repurchase agreement worth 80 billion shillings at a weighted average rate of 7.516 per cent and a tenor of seven days

Source: Punch