/ 14 May 1999

UGANDA DEFENDS THE SHILLING

UGANDA’S central bank has injected $10-million into the country’s forex market in a bid to increase the relative value of the weakening shilling, officials confirmed on Friday. Central bank spokesman Walugembe Musoke said the bank sold $10-million on Thursday through commercial banks in attempt to reduce the dollar rate, which currently stands at slightly more than 1600 shillings to the US unit. The shilling’s depreciation has been blamed on falling coffee exports, a ban on Ugandan fish exports to the European Union and dwindling earnings from tourism. The EU recently banned fish imports from east Africa after it was discovered that fishermen in Lake Victoria use toxins to boost their catch, an tourism has been hit by attacks on tourists by Hutu rebels in Uganda’s parks.