Kenyan Shilling Falls To The Lowest This Week As Foreign Exchange Reserves Hit USD 7,377 Million

The Kenya Shilling remained relatively stable against major international and regional currencies during the week ending July 27 but continued to fall against the US Dollar.

It exchanged at KSh 142.20 per US dollar on July 27, compared to KSh 141.70 per US dollar on July 20.

As of Friday, the exchange rate was as follows:

• USD|KES: KES weakened by 0.07% to close at 142.30 (-15.34% year-to-date).
• GBP|KES: KES strengthened by 0.42% to close at 182.87 (-23.17% year-to-date).
• EUR|KES: KES strengthened by 0.45% to close at 156.68 (-19.36% year-to-date).

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Foreign Exchange Reserves The usable foreign exchange reserves remained adequate at USD 7,377 million (4.03 months of import cover) as of July 27. This meets the CBK’s statutory requirement to endeavor to maintain at least 4 months of import cover.

At the same time, Money Market Liquidity in the money market decreased during the week ending July 27, as government receipts more than offset government payments.

Commercial banks’ reserves stood at a shortfall of KSh 18.1 billion about the 4.25 percent cash reserves requirement (CRR). Open market operations remained active.

The average interbank rate was 14.84 percent on July 27 compared to 9.76 percent on July 20. During the week, the average number of interbank deals increased to 54 from 48 in the previous week, while the average value traded decreased to KSh 12.0 billion from KSh 24.4 billion in the previous week.

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The Treasury bill auction of July 27 received bids totaling KSh 9.1 billion against an advertised amount of KSh 24.0 billion, representing a performance of 38.1 percent. Interest rates remained stable, with 91-day, 182-day, and 364-day rates increasing marginally.

During the Treasury bond tap sale of July 21, the 10-year and 3-year fixed-rate Treasury bonds received bids totaling KSh 44.4 billion against an advertised amount of KSh 20 billion, representing a performance rate of 222.0 percent.

At the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the NASI, NSE 25 and NSE 20 share price indices declined by 3.2 percent, 3.5 percent, and 2.3 percent, respectively, during the week ending July 27. Market capitalization declined by 3.2 percent. However, equity turnover and total shares traded increased by 12.0 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively.

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Data from the Central Bank of Kenya