BLBG:Kenya’s Shilling Snaps Three-Day Decline as Dollar Weakens Against Euro
Kenya’s shilling gained for the first trading session in four as the euro strengthened against the dollar after Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said an agreement on Europe’s debt crisis may be “attainable.”
The currency of East Africa’s biggest economy gained 0.3 percent to 90.01 per dollar at 11:47 a.m. in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital. It closed at 90.25 yesterday.
“The euro and most of the major currencies are strengthening against the dollar,” Wilson Mutai, a dealer at Nairobi-based African Banking Corp Ltd., said in a phone interview today. “The market is also short of shillings so people are selling dollars to fund the shortage of shillings.”
The euro rose 0.9 percent to $1.4194 as of 10:21 a.m. in London after Venizelos said Europe’s debt crisis may be resolved at a summit of European leader to be held in two days. The currency also strengthened 0.8 percent to 112.17 yen and gained 1.1 percent to 1.16369 Swiss francs.
To contact the reporter on this story: Eric Ombok in Nairobi at eombok@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shaji Mathew at shajimathew@bloomberg.net.
