Kenyan shilling firms on investor inflows and central bank comments

NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling gained ground on Thursday, helped by foreign investor inflows into an infrastructure bond and comments from the central bank that the currency had overshot its equilibrium rate, traders said.

Also supporting sentiment, the government on Wednesday launched a tender offer for its $2 billion Eurobond that matures in June.

Kenya shilling steady in slow trade

The East African country has been closely watched to see how it handles the big June payment due to its growing debt burden.

At 0813 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 159.50/160.50 per dollar, compared with its previous close of 160.00/161.00.