Latest currency data from the Central Bank of Kenya website shows that the Kenya Shilling yesterday appreciated 9 cents to exchange at KES 84.26 to the US dollar up from KES 84.35 on Tuesday.
The Shilling had on Tuesday depreciated 0.4 percent against the US dollar to exchange at KES 84.35 from KES 84.05 on Monday, the same CBK data showed. Data compiled by Pesatalk shows that Monday’s exchange rate appreciated 0.08 percent from Friday’s KES 84.12.
A Bloomberg website news report dated June 26th described Tuesday’s shilling depreciation as the currency’s biggest one day drop since June 12th caused by high demand for dollars as businesses sought to pay end month bills.
Last week, the Shilling improved against the US dollar to exchange at an average of KES 84.47 per US dollar compared to Ksh 85.09 per US dollar in the week ending June 14th 2012 according to last week’s CBK weekly report dated 22nd June. The report attributed the currency’s improved performance to ‘…the tight Kenya shilling liquidity in the market and the receipt of the second tranche syndicated loan, during the week.’
The syndicated loan boosted the Government’s foreign exchange reserves to Sh420 billion, the equivalent of 4.86 months of import cover compared to Sh387 billion in the week ended June 14th which was the equivalent of 3.86 months of import cover, the CBK report further mentioned.
A press release by the Ministry of Finance on the 15th of May this year says that the Kenya Government borrowed $600 million from international commercial banks to finance infrastructural development and boost the Central Bank’s international reserves to stabilize the Kenya Shilling.
Below is a table showing the performance of the Kenya Shilling against major currencies yesterday:
