Kenya's shilling falls against dollar on political uncertainty

NAIROBI, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Kenya shilling declined on Friday ending the week lower after rising to a three-month high to enter the 102 territory.

The shilling traded at an average of 103.00 against the dollar on Friday down from 102.88 on Thursday, with the fall attributed to political uncertainty over the planned swearing in of opposition leader Raila Odinga as the People's President.

The Central Bank of Kenya placed the shilling in the trading at 102.95 to the dollar, a 0.08 percent decline from 102.87 in the previous session.

On the other hand, commercial banks in the East African nation quoted the currency at between 103.10 and 103.20 down from 102.75 and 103.00 on Thursday.

Currency traders in the financial institutions blamed the decline of the currency to the political uncertainty arising from the planned swearing in on Tuesday next week.

Foreign envoys led by those from the United States and the UK have opposed the swearing in of Odinga noting it may lead to anarchy. However, Odinga is adamant and on Friday his team released activities of the event.

Besides that, there was increased dollar demand from retail importers putting pressure on the local currency.

Against the British pound, the shilling similarly declined to close at 137.85 from 138.23 in the previous session. Enditem