Kenya’s shilling was stable on Thursday, supported by foreign loans and comments by the president that the country would not default on a Eurobond maturing in June, traders said.
At 0839 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 160.00/161.00 per US dollar, the same level it closed on Wednesday.
President William Ruto told Reuters this week that Kenya was looking to buy back in February or March at least some of its $2 billion Eurobond, dismissing any risk of default.
Kenya’s strained public finances got a boost last month when the International Monetary Fund approved $941 million in additional funding, while the Trade and Development Bank lent Kenya $210 million.
Kenyan shilling gains ground against the dollar
One trader said an added reason why the shilling was steady on Thursday was that the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) was keeping a close eye on forex transactions, “particularly on margins on the sell side”.
“No one wants to be caught in CBK’s crosshairs for now,” the trader said.
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