Kenyan Shilling Weakens On Thursday To a 10-Month Low

By Soko Directory Team / Published November 16, 2018 | 5:30 am

Shilling Secondary Turnover Gikomba Market

The Kenyan Shilling seems to be under pressure after it weakened to a 10-month low on Thursday on what analysts said was due to importer demand from oil companies.

In the mid-morning of Thursday, traders quoted the shilling at 104 to the dollar. As the day progressed, traders said the local currency touched 103.05/25 during the day. The level was last neared on January 18^th this year when the shilling traded at 103.15/25.

Kenyan commercial banks quoted the shilling at 102.95/103.15 against the dollar compared to what was witnessed on Wednesday where the shilling was quoted at 102.80/103.10.

New Taxes Lead To Dwindling Mobile Transaction

The transaction via mobile phones has declined due to the new taxes introduced by the government on digital cash transfers and bank charges.

According to the recent statistics from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the transactions after the taxes marked one of the steepest declines in several months, both in the number and value of money sent compared to how it was before the new taxes.

The total value of money sent through mobile phones fell from 348 billion shillings transacted August to 327 billion shillings in September.

The drop was significant compared to a 14 billion shillings growth recorded over a similar period in 2017 and an increase of 16 billion shillings between July and August this year.

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