BLBG:Kenya Shilling Gains for Sixth Day on Liquidity, Tracking Euro
Kenya’s shilling strengthened for the sixth day, the longest winning streak in ten months, on tight liquidity and as the euro appreciated against the dollar.
The currency of East Africa’s biggest economy appreciated as much as 1.1 percent to 83.75 per dollar at 12:31 p.m. in the capital Nairobi. This is the longest winning streak since March.
“The shilling is gaining against the dollar on account of tight liquidity in the money market and tracing on the gains Euro is making against the dollar,” Jeremiah Kendagor, acting head of trading at Nairobi-based Kenya Commercial Bank Ltd., said in a phone interview.
The euro strengthened 0.3 percent to $1.3180 at 9:35 a.m. in Brussels, its sixth gain in seven days.
Kenya’s inflation rate fell for a second month to 18.3 percent in January from 18.9 percent in December, the Nairobi- based Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said today in an e- mailed statement. The central bank’s monetary policy committee is meeting tomorrow.
Tanzania’s shilling strengthened, gaining 0.1 percent to 1,596 per dollar at 12:30 p.m., while Uganda’s shilling weakened, declining 1.5 percent to 2,370 per dollar.
-- Editors: Peter Branton, Ash Kumar
To contact the reporter on this story: Johnstone Ole Turana in Nairobi at jturana@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net