Kenya shilling ends week stronger as inflows rise
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail Xinhua, July 22, 2017
NAIROBI, July 21 (Xinhua) -- The Kenya shilling strengthened against the U.S. dollar on Friday ending the week higher as inflows rose amid support from the Central Bank.
The shilling ended the week at an average of 103.8 having gained about 0.08 percent since the start of the week.
The apex bank quoted the shilling Friday at 103.84, down from 103.91 on Wednesday, with the level being the strongest since the currency fell six months low a fortnight ago.
On the other hand, commercial banks placed the value of the shilling against the dollar at between 103.80 and 103.95, with traders citing high dollar demand from retail importers, but this had been offset by inflows from agricultural sector.
The shilling has been under pressure for close to two weeks following increased dollar demand from multinationals, oil and retail importers.
CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge further blamed the fall of the currency to speculative trading ahead of the Aug. 8 polls.
However, the Central Bank supported the shilling by selling unspecified amount of dollars to offset high demand.
Latest data from the regulator showed that close to 100 million dollars have been used to support the shilling after hitting six-month low.
The reserves in the period have fallen to 7.8 billion dollars months of import cover down from 7.9 million dollars. Enditem
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)