Kenyan shilling loses ground as dollar demand rises

NAIROBI, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan shilling lost more ground on Monday against the U.S. dollar as it sustained a downward trend from last Friday.

The shilling traded at an average of 103.05 against the dollar, down from 103.00 on Friday, with the fall blamed on high dollar demand and unresolved political issues between opposition leader Raila Odinga and President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Odinga had vowed to be sworn-in on Tuesday as the "People's President" but postponed the event to a later date as Western nations pushed for talks with Kenyatta.

The Central Bank of Kenya placed the shilling in the Monday trading at 103.08 to the dollar down from 102.95, a 0.12-percent decline.

The East African nation's commercial banks quoted the currency at between 103.00 and 103.20 per dollar, the same margins it ended last Friday.

Against the British pound, the shilling declined by a huge margin of 0.34 percent to close at 138.32 from 137.85 in the previous session.

The Kenyan shilling remained relatively unchanged against the dollar last week to close at an average of 103.1.

The stability was attributed to rising foreign investor inflows into the local debt market, which offset dollar demand from importers.

The shilling is expected to remain relatively stable against the dollar in the short term, supported by high forex reserves that stand at 7.12 billion dollars. Enditem