The Kenyan Shilling traded within a range of 110.10 and 110.19 in the week ending Jan. 22, thus appreciating marginally by 0.1% to the dollar.
“The Kenya Shilling remained relatively stable against major international and regional currencies during the week ending January 21. It exchanged at KSh 110.19 per US dollar on January 21, compared to KSh 109.97 per US dollar on January 14,” said the CBK in its Weekly Bulletin.
The appreciation was due to higher dollar inflows from offshore investors into the local debt market.
Analysts attribute this to improved investor sentiment for so-called frontier assets.
On a Year To Date (YTD) basis, the shilling has depreciated by 0.6% against the dollar.
So far, besides the continued pressure on the Kenyan shilling, it has remained stable due to an improved current account balance to a deficit of 4.7% of GDP in November from 5.3% a month before. In addition, improving diaspora remittances and stable forex reserves currently at USD 7,658 million (4.70 months of import
cover) as at January 21.
