Black market dollar price still low

Economic Ministry has said that dollar prices have gone down in the black market over the past two or three months.

Economic Minister Ahmed Mohamed said that the best progress in the market in the past two or three months is the slight positive change in the price of dollar:

“Earlier, the price of dollar in the black market was about Rf 17. Now we understand that it’s Rf 16.40 or Rf 16.50,” Ahmed Mohamed said.

He said that this change is brought about by the circulation of the $50 million given by the Indian government, and the performance of tourism industry being better than expected:

“Earlier this year we received $50 million which was owed by the Indian government. This money has been rolled over, so it acted as an injection of foreign currency in the economy. Plus tourism has been better than expected.”

He noted that price of dollar may rise in the near future again. Oil prices are rising in the world market, creating more demand for dollar, thus raising dollar prices.

Sun is informed by several businessmen that dollar prices have gone down. However one businessman involved in import trade said that the price of dollar is still high if you purchase in large amounts.

“Maybe that’s because of the current situation. I don’t think it’s permanent,” he said.

Dollar prices were changed from Rf 12.85 to Rf 15.42 in April last year, resulting in an increase in dollar prices in the black market. By the end of last year, the prices had gone down a bit in the black market.