NAIROBI: Kenya's shilling was steady on Friday in subdued trading, after gradually weakening this week toward a level where the central bank sold dollars to offer support last week.
Demand for dollars by the energy and telecoms sectors to meet their end-month obligations had eased slightly, with the companies reluctant to take long dollar positions on the last day of the week and near the close of the quarter.
By 0810, the shilling was trading at 89.10/89.30 to the greenback, little changed from Thursday's close of 89.15/89.25.
"There is not much going on," said Chris Muiga, a senior trader at National Bank of Kenya. "Today will be a slow day."
The shilling has closed in on 89.50 where the central bank sold dollars to offer support last week.
But traders said the central bank was unlikely to step for now as long as weakness appeared to reflect a need for dollars rather than speculation.
"They probably are not coming in because they figure there is genuine demand for the dollar right now, so if they intervene they will just be depleting their reserves for nothing," said one trader at a commercial bank, who asked not be named when talking about central bank policy.
"From Wednesday next week, if they see that the shilling is still weakening then it will be a sign the speculators have come in and probably that is when they will intervene," he said.
It was not clear if the central bank plans to sell dollars again or what level might trigger action.
It has previously said it had the reserves needed to deal with shocks to the economy.
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