NAIROBI, July 12 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan shilling was relatively unmoved against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday after dipping to a six-month low.
The local unit exchanged to the dollar at an average of 104.05, the level it was on Tuesday as the Central Bank sold its forex reserves to offset increased demand for dollars from food and oil importers.
The apex bank quoted the shilling at 104.02, which was a marginal decline from the previous day's average of 104.01.
Commercial banks, on the other hand, put the value of the shilling against the dollar at between 104 and 104.10, the same level the currency was on Tuesday, with traders noting demand for dollar was still high.
On Tuesday, the shilling weakened against the dollar by about 1.5 percent to hit a new low, with the fall being one of the biggest margins in recent times.
Against the Sterling Pound, the shilling fell 0.05 percent Wednesday as the currency closed at 133.93. The fall was a reverse from Tuesday, where the local unit strengthened against the Pound by 0.04 percent to stand 133.73.
Analysts are optimistic that the shilling would weather the current storm for two reasons. The first is East African nation's strong foreign exchange reserves that stand at 7.92 billion dollars and second is a precautionary arrangement with the IMF amounting to 1.5 billion dollars.
The two make the country's foreign exchange reserves at 9.4 billion dollars, an equivalent of 6.23 months of import cover. Enditem
