RTRS:Kenya shilling slips vs dollar on eased liquidity
NAIROBI, Dec 9 (Reuters) - The Kenyan shilling
weakened slightly against a globally stronger dollar on Friday
as eased liquidity made it cheaper for banks to hold long dollar
positions and traders said the central bank could mop up
shillings through repurchase agreements.
At 0650 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at
89.40/60 against the dollar, slightly weaker than Thursday's
close of 89.30/50.
"Interest rates on the overnight market have been coming
down because liquidity eased after bonds matured recently. It's
making it easy for guys to hold dollars and that is pressuring
the shilling," said a trader with one commercial bank.
"We could see central bank come in with repos (repurchase
agreements) to mop up the excess shilling liquidity."
The weighted average interbank rate eased further on
Thursday to 16.3 percent from 19.4 percent on Wednesday as banks
accepted lower rates on the overnight lending window.
Central bank has stayed out of the repo market the whole of
this week after it mopped up 4.25 billion shillings ($47.6
million) last Friday.
Traders said the shilling was also tracking a weakening euro
after the euro zone leaders failed to reached a resolution to a
persistent debt crisis, pushing investors to exit riskier assets
in emerging and frontier markets like Kenya.
"The shilling is being haunted by what is happening in the
euro zone. The euro slipped after the meeting European leaders
failed to agree on the way forward," said the trader who did not
wish to be named.
Q