Shilling steady, seen staying under pressure

The Kenyan shilling was steady on Friday, but traders said there was still some pressure from increased importer dollar demand and lower inflows from tourism and tea exports.

At 0831 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 88.75/85 to the dollar, unchanged from Thursday's close.

"We are not getting anything much from tourism. Tea guys also, there is nothing much they are giving us, so there's not much of a counter to the demand," Nahashon Mungai, trader at Kenya Commercial Bank, said. "Based on all those factors it is definitely under pressure."

Traders said the shilling could still weaken barring any action by the central bank.

In late August, the central bank sold dollars into the market, after the shilling hit 88.80/90, which at the time was its lowest level since December 2011.

Traders said they forecast the shilling, which has lost 2.4 per cent against the dollar so far this year, to trade in the 88.60 to 89.10 range in coming days. -- Reuters