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Kenyan shilling loses more ground against USD, GBP

Xinhua, April 19, 2017 Adjust font size:

The Kenya shilling lost more ground Wednesday, albeit marginally, as increased U.S. dollar demand from importers piled more pressure on the local unit.

The currency weakened against the dollar by 0.06 percent to close at 103.43 down from 103.4 on Tuesday, data from the Central Bank showed Wednesday.

Commercial bank traders, however, quoted the Kenyan currency at 103.45 as the fall was attributed to retail importers.

On Tuesday, the shilling went down against the dollar by 0.05 percent as it also weakened against the British Pound by 0.2 percent to close at 129.42.

Similarly, the downward trend against the British Pound continued Wednesday with the shilling going down by 1.72 percent to close at 131.66. Compared to the dollar, the shilling has lost more ground against the Pound.

Last week, the shilling remained relatively stable against the dollar to close the week at 103.4 as was recorded the previous week, on account of increased currency inflows ahead of the Easter holiday.

The Central Bank, however, has a stock of forex reserves, which stand at 7.9 billion dollars or 5.2 months of import cover that analysts believe would be able to support the shilling in the short term. Endit