Turnover
Secondary market turnover jumped 153.71 percent w/w to close at 9.98 billion shillings in the course of the week buoyed by trades on the short and medium term segments of the yield curve.
The top five traded bonds accounted for 51.89 percent of the total turnover. Activity on the infrastructure bonds (IFBs) picked momentum with yields settling below the average on the yield curve. The week was salient with high liquidity condition which should it protract, will prop up secondary market activity.
Kenyan Shilling Vs the Dollar
The local currency traded in the 101.70 – 101.98 band in the week, firmed up albeit high KES liquidity. The dollar weakened at the tail end of the week, weighed down by dovish comments from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
Usable foreign exchange reserves held at the central bank declined by USD 36 million to USD 7.98 billion; equivalent to 5.23 months of import cover.
Money Market:
The average interbank rate declined by 199bps to 3.12 percent in the week supported by the high government payment and the cyclical school fee payment flowing through the banking system.
Interbank traded volume edged up by KES 6.62Bn to 53.77 billion shillings in the week. Commercial banks’ excess reserves declined from 29.7 billion shillings in the prior week to 17.3 billion shillings.