MwanaKijiji.COM

Tanzania’s shilling headed for the weakest close in 17 years against the dollar as oil companies sought to buy the U.S. currency to pay for imports.

The currency of East Africa’s second-biggest economy currency depreciated as much as 0.8 percent to 1630.5 per dollar. A close at this level would be the weakest since 1994. It traded 0.3 percent down at 1,622.73 at 2:21 p.m. in Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital.

“There is a lot of demand that has come in from the oil sector since morning,” Eric Chijoriga, a trader with Absa Group Ltd.’s Tanzanian unit, said by phone.

Tanzania, which has experienced fuel shortages at gas stations this month, raised the cost of gasoline by 5.5 percent after international oil prices climbed and the shilling weakened against the dollar, the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority said in a statement today. Tanzania’s inflation rate climbed to 13 percent in June, the fastest pace in 15 months, on higher energy and food costs, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.

Motorists in Dar es Salaam have faced queues at stations since Aug. 5 amid a gasoline shortage that the regulator said was caused by fuel retailers disrupting supplies after a price cut on Aug. 3. Last week, the regulator suspended British Petroleum Tanzania Ltd.’s wholesale license for three months and issued warning letters to three other suppliers for causing the disruption.

To contact the reporter on this story: David Malingha Doya in Dar es Salaam via Johannesburg at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Bloomberg News

Comments (0)

Name

Email-Address (Will Not Be Published)

Comment

smaller | bigger

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment Preview