NAIROBI: The Kenyan shilling eased against the dollar on Tuesday on pent-up foreign-currency demand from manufacturers, who held back from buying dollars in recent weeks as the local unit strengthened, traders said.
At 0920 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 131.00/132.00 per dollar, compared with Monday’s close of 130.00/131.00.
“There’s some demand that has come back from guys who had been hoping for (the dollar/shilling exchange rate) to go lower. Now they need to meet mid-month obligations and really need to purchase dollars,” one trader said.
Kenyan shilling weakens on fuel, manufacturing FX demand
The shilling is one of the best-performing currencies in the world this year, in a rally fuelled partly by the government resolving a large Eurobond repayment due in June which had spooked investors.
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