NAIROBI, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Kenya shilling weakened to 103.3 against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday as political bickering over Oct. 26 polls continued.
The shilling had firmed to 103.22 on Tuesday, but was weighed down by increased demand of dollars from importers to settle at 103.31 on Wednesday, according to the Central Bank.
Commercial banks, on the other hand, quoted the currency at between 103.25 and 103.45, which were the same margins as it had traded on Tuesday.
Traders in the financial institutions noted there was a rise in inflows, which had helped balance demand of dollars from importers amid tight liquidity in the market.
Analysts expect the currency to remain stable against the dollar in the meantime supported by the Central Bank, which has sufficient reserves of 7.4 billion dollars, an equivalent to five months of import cover, with elections being the main risk to its stability.
The Kenya shilling gained against the dollar by 0.5 percent in the third quarter to close at 103.2, from 103.7 at the end of June.
Cytonn, a Nairobi-based investment firm, attributed the currency's third-quarter rise to speculative investors' selling of dollars they had bought in the run-up to the Aug. 8 elections and buying back the shilling, and to dollar inflows from foreign investors to the local equity and debt markets.
