Kenyan shilling little changed, inflation figures eyed

NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling was barely moved on Monday as traders eyed inflation data due out later in the session.

At 0732 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 87.55/65 to the dollar, compared with Friday's close of 87.60/70.

"The shilling looks like it is stuck in a rut, trading between 87.20-88," Duncan Kinuthia, head of trading at Commercial Bank of Africa.

Traders said inflation data is expected to show a slight uptick, which could push it above the Central Bank of Kenya's upper target limit of 7.5 percent. The bank targets inflation of 5 percent but allow a 2.5 percentage points swing on both sides.

"What we would be keen to see is what the MPC says because all their previous assumptions were that inflation is low," Kinuthia said.