Ugandan shilling seen firming amid US shutdown uncertainty

KAMPALA (Reuters) - The Ugandan shilling strengthened slightly on Monday and was seen making further gains as the financing standoff in the U.S. Congress encouraged dollar selling. At 0941 GMT, commercial banks quoted the currency of East Africa's third-largest economy at 2,545/2,550 per dollar, up from Friday's close of 2,548/2,553. "A couple of players in the interbank are converting their dollars for the local unit as the dollar continues to weaken globally," said Faisal Bukenya, head of market making at Barclays Bank. "I see a chance for more shilling gains, depending on whether developments in the U.S. continue to hurt the dollar." The political impasse in Washington over the U.S. budget has shut down non-essential government services just as the government approaches a $16.7 trillion debt borrowing limit, meaning a probable default unless the debt ceiling is raised. Sage Daniel Muganza, a trader at Centenary Bank, said the shilling was also gaining from lack of dollar demand from importers. Traders said the shilling was likely to play between 2,540 and 2,555 to the dollar in the days ahead.