NAIROBI, July 24 (Xinhua) -- The Kenya shilling started the week lower on Monday, weakening against the U.S. dollar as outflows outweighed inflows.
The shilling exchanged against the dollar at an average of 103.86, a decline from 103.84 at the end of last week.
The Central Bank on Monday quoted the shilling at 103.87, down from 103.84 on Friday, with the currency sliding despite the regulator selling dollars to buttress it.
On the other hand, commercial banks put the value of the shilling against the dollar at between 103.85 and 104.05, with traders noting there was high dollar demand from various sectors, including manufacturing and oil.
Last week, latest data showed that the Central Bank used 88 million dollars to support the shilling as forex reserves fell from 5.23 months of import cover to 5.17 months of import cover.
The Kenya shilling last week remained stable mainly driven by Central Bank support, inflows from horticulture exporters, which offset the dollar demand by oil importers.
Analysts noted that shilling would remain relatively stable in the short term, boosted by CBK's support as can be seen by the decline in the forex reserve levels. On a year to date basis, the shilling has depreciated against the dollar by 1.4 percent. Enditem
