The Kenya shilling has lost nearly 20% of its value against regional currencies in under a year, weakening its dominant position in the region in a trend that is serving pain to traders importing goods from Uganda and Tanzania.
Samuel Karanja, the chief executive at Importers and Small Scale Traders Association, told the Business Daily that some of the impacted imports, especially from Uganda, include shoes, clothes, cosmetics and human hair.
“Importing goods in the region is becoming difficult for business. Many of us have had to cut on the volume of goods we are importing or have had to increase money to get the same volume of goods we used to get say a year earlier,” said Mr Karanja in a phone interview.
“And since selling prices for these goods are not changing that much here in Kenya, our profit margins have been dropping. We are worried that reversing this free fall of the shilling is going to be difficult.”
www.businessdailyafrica.com
Samuel Karanja, the chief executive at Importers and Small Scale Traders Association, told the Business Daily that some of the impacted imports, especially from Uganda, include shoes, clothes, cosmetics and human hair.
“Importing goods in the region is becoming difficult for business. Many of us have had to cut on the volume of goods we are importing or have had to increase money to get the same volume of goods we used to get say a year earlier,” said Mr Karanja in a phone interview.
“And since selling prices for these goods are not changing that much here in Kenya, our profit margins have been dropping. We are worried that reversing this free fall of the shilling is going to be difficult.”
EAC currencies gain against dominant Kenyan shilling
The Kenya shilling has lost nearly 20 percent of its value against regional currencies in under a year.
www.businessdailyafrica.com
