Major foreign currencies slide as Eurozone crisis takes toll

Major foreign currencies have dropped marginally compared to last month, a situation attributed to the Eurozone crisis.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Major foreign currencies have dropped marginally compared to last month, a situation attributed to the Eurozone crisis. The euro has, for instance, shed 1.3 per cent over the past few weeks on the international market, which has been reflected locally. The euro is trading at 840/860 on average (buying and selling) compared 875/890 last month, while the pound is trading at 950/985 on average compared 900/1,050 last month. The dollar has been moving on the 660/670 range in forex bureaus across the city. According to central bank statistics, last month the euro traded on average 825.1/838.4 compared to this month’s rate of 814.1/827.1. The pound was at 955.5/970.9, on average, last month.  The falling rates have been attributed to the economic crisis in the Eurozone.Dickson Musoni, the treasury manager at Bank of Kigali, predicted the situation could even get worse. "Right now, the European Union is trying to bail out some countries in the Eurozone. This of course has an economic implication on these currencies,” Musoni said in an interview with Business Times yesterday.Justine Uwimana, also attributed the downward movement of major currencies to the Eurozone crisis. "We always keep an eye on what is happening in Europe and the US because they are major players in the international market,” Uwimana said. A weak dollar has a negative impact on the country’s exports as it creates imbalanced pricing.