It seems the Kenyan shilling is under attack from all the fronts, weakening against the US Dollar, the British Pound, and the Euro on Thursday. The Central Bank of Kenya has maintained that all is well and there is no reason for Kenyans to panic.
The local currency shed 0.05 percent against the US dollar to close the day at 117.01 shillings. This is the lowest the Kenyan shilling has ever weakened in history. However, the shilling is said to be weaker than what is being quoted by the Central Bank.
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At the same time, the local currency weakened 0.39 against the British Pound to close the day at 147.07 shillings. Against the Euro, the shilling weakened 0.32 percent to close at 125.32 shillings.
On the Stock Market, the total equity turnover rose by 28.92 percent to close at USD 3.75 million (438.61 million shillings) compared to yesterday’s turnover of USD 2.91 million (340.22 million shillings).
During the sessions on Thursday, the NSE 20 and NASI shed 1.17 and 0.11 percent to close at 1,683.41 and 129.88 respectively.
Foreign investors assumed a net selling position by accounting for 20.53 percent of total market purchases and 73.50 percent of total market sales. Foreigners are unsure about the outcomes of the elections and the impact on markets.
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There seems to be no hope for the Kenyan shilling. Currently, there is a shortage in dollars forcing many businesses that survive on imports to either shut down or operate below capacity. Pwani Oil has since shut down operations while Kapa Oil is in the process.
The Central Bank has been downplaying the shortage of the dollar issue with the National Treasury saying that manufacturers are to blame for the shortage of the dollar but when asked to explain how they went mute and could not give a coherent answer.