RTRS:Kenya shilling steady vs dollar, central bank eyed
NAIROBI, June 29 (Reuters) - The Kenyan shilling
could firm against the dollar on Friday, traders said, with the
central bank expected to mop up liquidity via repurchase
agreements later in the session.
At 0733 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at
84.15/35 per dollar, barely changed from the 84.20/40 it had
closed at on Thursday.
"The shilling could trade below the psychological 84.00
level if the central bank keeps mopping up liquidity," said a
trader at one commercial banks.
The central bank has been absorbing liquidity from the
market via repurchase agreements this week as liquidity surged
after the government released funds for its free primary
education programme.
The liquidity jump dragged the weighted average interbank
interest rate down to 16.4 percent on Thursday from 16.5 percent
on Wednesday.
Some traders said the shilling could track the euro's gains
after European leaders agreed a deal to stabilise the region's
debt markets and addressed some market concerns on creditor
status, easing the funding strains on Spain and Italy.
Typically, when the euro gains against the dollar, investors
buy into assets perceived to be risky in emerging and frontier
markets.
"We could see major moves on the euro over the weekend which
can seep through to the shilling next week," said Dickson
Magecha, a trader at Standard Chartered.