Uganda's central bank on Wednesday raised its key lending rate by 50 basis points to 10.00%, citing depreciation of the local currency and inflationary pressures.

The decision came at a special Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting called after the shilling hit an all-time low against the dollar late last month.

At its previous three MPC meetings, the Bank of Uganda had kept its Central Bank Rate unchanged at 9.50%.

The shilling is down about 3% against the dollar so far this year, after hitting a record low of 3.955/3.965 to the US currency on February 26, LSEG data show.