Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana currencies seen range bound next week

NIGERIA

The naira is expected to weaken slightly in the parallel market as a dollar shortage persists after the central bank reduced the sale of greenbacks.
"The naira will continue to trade at a premium against the dollar on the parallel market as long as dollar supply sources are limited," one trader said.
The naira traded at 306 to the dollar on the parallel market, unchanged from last Thursday, and at 197 per dollar in the official market, near its exchange rate peg set by the central bank.
The central bank halted dollar sales to bureaux de change operators two weeks ago in a bid to conserve its foreign reserves and steam currency speculations in the market.

KENYA
The shilling is expected to trade in a tight band of 102.00-102.50 in the next week mainly due to a balanced supply of demand of dollars. The shilling has been stable this year after weakening 11 percent last year.
At 1220 GMT, commercial banks posted the shilling 102.10/20, barely changed from last Thursday's close of 102.20/30.
"Demand and supply of dollars is more or less matched," said a trader with a commercial bank.

GHANA
Ghana's cedi is expected to hold steady after the central bank kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged.
After weakening nearly 4 percent in the first three weeks of January on seasonal dollar demand from local importers and speculative buyers, the cedi has been stable this week.
The currency was quoted at 4.000 to the dollar at 1225 GMT on Thursday, according to Thomson Reuters data.
"In the week ahead, the pair is likely to remain stable within the 3.95-3.98 band owing to some degree of balance around the demand and supply side of the market," analyst Joseph Biggles Amponsah of Dortis Research said.
The central bank decided on Jan. 25 to hold its main lending rate at 26 percent as it attempts to bring down double-digit inflation, although a fragile currency still poses a threat to stable prices.
*First published by Reuters