BLBG:Tanzania’s Shilling Heads for Two-Week as Companies Increase Dollar Demand
Tanzania’s shilling headed for a two-week low against the U.S. currency as companies increased demand for the dollar.
The currency of East Africa’s second-biggest economy fell 0.2 percent to 1,624 per dollar, the weakest level since Aug. 22, by 12:35 p.m. in Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital.
“There have been outflows, mainly banks demanding dollars for their clients,” Zainul Chandoo, head treasurer at Standard Bank Group Ltd.’s local unit, said by phone today.
The shilling has depreciated 8.6 percent this year, making it Africa’s worst performer after the Ugandan and Kenyan currencies, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The shilling reached 1,633.2 per dollar on Aug. 19, the weakest level since October 1994 as Tanzania’s inflation rate climbed to 13 percent in July, the fastest pace in 15 months, on higher energy and food costs.
To contact the reporter on this story: David Malingha Doya in Dar es Salaam via Johannesburg at asguazzin@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net
