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An additional US$6 million has been offloaded on the market by the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) to partially meet high demand being experienced in the foreign exchange market.
This was an in addition to the US$5 million which was offloaded on Monday this week by the Central Bank.
The funds were said to have partially met the growing demand for hard currency, while usual liquidity providers held on to their United States (U.S) dollar position in hopes for higher rates.
According to the market update by Access Bank Zambia, market activity on Thursday declined as a result of weaker dollar trading and the persistent dry spell for the greenback.
Read more: Bank of Zambia lifts Kwacha, shores up market with $15 million, as base metal prices rise
“The Kwacha lost some ground against the US dollar in Thursday’s trading session. It opened at K19.0203/19.0703 and closed at K19.0869/19.1369 on the market average interbank bid and offer respectively.
“Market activity declined as a result of weaker dollar trading and the persistent dry spell for the greenback while the Bank of Zambia offloaded an additional US$6 million dollars to partially meet high demand,” the bank stated.
The bank projected that the Local currency was expected to decline in value in the short run.
Meanwhile, copper prices eased on Thursday, weighed down by worries about a lack of major stimulus and weak demand in the world’s top metals consumer China combined with strong domestic output.
Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange fell 1.1 percent to US$8,382 per metric tonnes in official open-outcry trading, extending losses from Tuesday.
The Brent crude oil benchmark hovered above US$80 a barrel on Thursday, buoyed by China’s pledge to reinvigorate economic growth and expectations that the United States Federal Reserve would stop raising interest rates soon.
Brent futures were up 63 cents at US$80.26 a barrel while United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 51 cents at US$76.26.
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