NAIROBI: Kenya's shilling was steady in early trading on Monday, finding some support from offshore investors seeking the local currency to bid for this week's sale of a government infrastructure bond.
At 0730 GMT, the shilling was quoted at 91.90/92.10 to the dollar, little changed on Friday's close of 92.00/92.10.
"We have seen some demand for the local currency which is giving it some support," said one dealer, adding offshore investors were exchanging dollars for shillings before the auction on Wednesday of the 25 billion shilling ($272.03 million) bond.
He also noted some continuing tightness in the shilling market as a result of companies seeking shillings to meet a tax payment deadline at the end of last week.
Duncan Kinuthia, head of trading at Commercial Bank of Africa, said there was interest in buying dollars when the shilling strengthened below 92.00. "Above 92.30 we have seen pretty good dollar inflows," he added.
Some investors were looking for any shilling weakness to buy the currency to invest in other assets, such as shares or bonds.
Kinuthia said he expected the currency to trade in a band of around 91.70-92.50 for the next week. Another trader suggested a similar but slightly narrower band but said pressure could build as firms sought dollars to meet regular end-of-month payments.
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