The Kenya Shilling yesterday appreciated against all major international and regional currencies, gaining 43 cents against the US dollar to exchange at KES 84.10 from KES 84.53 on Friday last week.
Against the Sterling Pound, the Shilling was yesterday stronger by 89 cents exchanging at KES 130.31 to one Sterling Pound up from KES 131.20 on Friday last week. The Shilling also gained against the Euro, appreciating 1 shilling and 38 cents to exchange at KES 103.35 to the Euro up from KES 104.73 on Friday.
Liquidity erosion by the Central Bank of Kenya is the reason for the Shilling’s gains, according to a news report by Reuters. Yesterday alone, the CBK mopped up 5 billion shillings using repurchase agreements against bids worth 11.02 billion, the report adds.
Additionally, the shilling’s value has strengthened because of less dollar demand among importers who had last week bought more dollars in anticipation that the shilling would devalue following Thursday’s MPC meeting, the Reuters news report further states.
Regionally, the shilling appreciated against the Tanzania Shilling and Uganda Shilling by 0.6 percent each, to exchange at 18.8 Tanzanian Shillings for one Kenya Shilling and 29.3 Ugandan Shillings per Kenya Shilling.