Kenyan shilling treads water against the dollar

NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling held steady against the dollar on Monday as importers remained on the sidelines.

At 0805 GMT, leading commercial banks posted the shilling at 89.10/20, unchanged from Friday's close.

The shilling, which is 2.8 percent down against the US currency this year, has been under pressure due to a dearth of dollars as tourism, a key source of foreign exchange, dwindled in the wake of frequent attacks by Islamists.

Traders said the supply of dollars was still low but the currency was unlikely to tumble beyond the 89.50 level since the central bank intervened last month when it fell to that level, pumping in dollars to shore up the shilling.

"The supply side still looks a bit weak but we don't expect any major movements," said Duncan Kinuthia, head of trading at Commercial Bank of Africa.