NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling was steady on Monday and traders said they expected it to have a bias towards strengthening, helped by lower dollar demand from companies and possibility of further action by the central bank to mop up excess liquidity.
At 0740 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 88.60/70 to the dollar, the same as Friday's close. Traders said they expected the shilling to trade in the 88.50 to 88.70 range during the session.
"I do not expect much demand (for dollars)," said Sheikh Mehran, head of trading at I&M Bank, adding he expected the shilling to be supported by central bank activity.
The bank mopped up 10 billion shillings on Friday, helping the shilling by making it more expensive for banks to hold long dollar positions.
Mehran also noted an increase in central bank reserves. "So generally, the shilling might strengthen a bit," he added.
The central bank said in its latest weekly bulletin that official usable foreign exchange reserves rose to $6.377 billion in the week ending Sept.4 from $6.257 billion a week before.
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