BLBG:Tanzania’s Shilling Gains on Dollar Inflows From Cotton Exports
Tanzania’s shilling appreciated as dollar proceeds from exports of cotton started flowing into the market.
The currency of East Africa’s second-biggest economy appreciated as much as 0.4 percent to 1,611.5 per dollar and traded 0.2 percent stronger at 1,614.75 by 1:40 p.m. in Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital.
“Some proceeds came in from the cotton sector, because the exporting season is now beginning,” Eric Chijoriga, a trader with National Bank of Commerce Ltd., Absa Group Ltd. (ASA)’s Tanzanian unit, said by phone. “This stabilized the shilling and caused a slight appreciation. The market has however been mostly quite, with no big deals.”
Tanzania is Africa’s second-biggest producer of cotton after Nigeria, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization. Output of the fiber this season may jump 53 percent to 250,000 metric tons as farmers planted more of the crop to benefit from higher prices, Daily News newspaper reported May 3, citing Marco Mtunga, director general of the Cotton Board.
To contact the reporters on this story: David Malingha Doya in Dar es Salaam via Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net