The new Kenyan bank notes. AFP PHOTO
Summary
- The reserves stood at $9.568 billion (Sh993.2 billion) equivalent to 6.2 months of import cover on Thursday.
- The shilling was exchanging at an average of 104.03 on Wednesday as dollar demand in the market went up.
- The shilling clawed back some ground on Thursday and Friday to close the week at 103.81 units to the dollar.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) official forex reserves shrunk
by Sh18.6 billion ($179 million) last week, pointing to possible
intervention by the regulator to stave off exchange rate volatility as
the shilling touched a two-year low of 104 to the dollar.
The
CBK’s latest weekly bulletin shows the reserves stood at $9.568 billion
(Sh993.2 billion) equivalent to 6.2 months of import cover on Thursday,
compared to $9.747 billion (Sh1.01 trillion/6.01 weeks of cover) a week
before.
The shilling was exchanging at an average of
104.03 on Wednesday as dollar demand in the market went up, having
depreciated by more than one percent or 1.08 units to the greenback in
the space of a week.
The shilling clawed back some ground on Thursday and Friday to close the week at 103.81 units to the dollar.
CBK
governor Patrick Njoroge last week linked the recent depreciation of
the shilling to excess liquidity in the market, and large external
payments made by some unnamed private sector firms.
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