NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling was steady on Tuesday, supported by a second straight day of central bank action in the money market as demand for dollars from importers picked up.
At 0846 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 88.60/70, unchanged from Monday's close of 88.60/70.
The central bank said it was seeking to mop up 5 billion shillings of excess liquidity, after it mopped up 5.93 billion shillings on Monday. Such operations make it more expensive to hold dollars.
"We are having importers coming in to buy (dollars). We expect that the central bank's continued presence on the money market would keep the shilling's slide in check for the time being," Mwambu Malamba, senior trader at Commercial Bank of Africa, said.
But he said that support may not be able to counter mounting pressure for long. "I think fundamentals still point to a weaker shilling,".
Traders said they expect the shilling, which has lost 2.3 percent versus the dollar so far this year, to trade in the 88.50 to 88.85 range in coming days.
"As usual eyes are on CBK (the central bank)," a senior trader at one commercial bank said.
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