The Kenya shilling strengthened against the dollar on muted demand on Friday after a season of weakening and dealers said the local unit would firm further in coming days. The commercial banks quoted the local unit at 65.40/50 to the greenback, compared with Thursday's close of 65.70/80.
"(There's) not much activity, just mostly interbank squaring positions ahead of the weekend," said Benson Kaburu, a senior dealer with Standard Chartered Bank. "The shilling will strengthen in the next few days, basically because there is no demand in the market, most people have fulfilled their end-month obligations," he said.
Dealers said the market was awaiting news on whether Finance Minister Amos Kimunya would give in to pressure to resign, following a no confidence vote in parliament over his handling of the sale of Nairobi's luxurious Grand Regency Hotel.