Zambia’s Kwacha Tracks Falling Rand to Hit Three-Month Low

Zambia’s kwacha fell to its lowest in more than three months against the dollar as the currency of Africa’s biggest copper producer tracked South Africa’s slumping rand, according to Investrust Bank Plc. (INVESTRU)

The kwacha slumped as much as 0.7 percent to 5,148 a dollar before paring its loss to 5,130 by 6 p.m. in Lusaka, the weakest since July 3. It’s the second-worst performer over the past three months after its Malawian counterpart among the African currencies tracked by Bloomberg.

“The kwacha is strongly correlated to the South African rand,” Mwewa Kyamulanda, a Lusaka-based currency trader with Investrust Bank, said by phone from the capital. “It is most likely that investors pulling out of the rand could be pulling out of the kwacha too.”

The rand has lost 6.4 percent against the dollar over the past three months as wildcat strikes spread across its mining industry, affecting gold, platinum, chrome and coal producers.

A general flight from emerging-marking countries seen as riskier by investors after the International Monetary Fund decreased its global economic growth expectations may have also contributed to the kwacha’s slide, Kyamulanda said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Hill in Johannesburg at mhill58@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net