BLBG:Ugandan Shilling Gains 2nd Day as Companies Sell Dollars for Tax
Uganda’s shilling, the world’s worst-performing currency in 2011, climbed for a second day as companies sold dollars to pay mid-month taxes.
The currency of East Africa’s third-biggest economy appreciated 0.1 percent to 2,780 per dollar at 1:59 p.m. in the capital, Kampala, after closing at 2,783 yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Major companies are paying mid-month value-added tax, which is made on the 15th day of the month,” Taib Lubega, a currency trader at Stanbic Bank Uganda Ltd., said by phone from Kampala.
The Ugandan shilling, which fell as low as 2,830 a dollar on Aug. 26, the weakest since 1993, has declined 17 percent this year against the dollar, making it the world’s worst-performing currency during the period.
A surge in food and fuel prices pushed inflation to a more than 18-year high of 21.4 percent in August from 18.8 percent in July, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics said on Aug. 31.
To contact the reporter on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at fojambo@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net
