by Bedah Mengo
NAIROBI, May 25 (Xinhua) -- The Kenya shilling gained more ground against the U.S. dollar on Thursday to stand at an average of 103.2 ahead of Central Bank's monetary policy committee meeting next week.
The shilling has been recording marginal gains for the last three days, with traders noting that there was decline in dollar demand among importers.
Kenya had heightened oil, sugar and maize imports in the last two weeks heaping pressure on the shilling.
Thursday, the Central Bank quoted the shilling at 103.29, a surge of 0.05 percent from the previous day's 103.3.
On the other hand, commercial banks put the value of the shilling against the dollar at between 103.15 and 103.35, with traders noting the shilling had steadied due to the anticipated monetary policy committee meeting on Monday.
In its last meeting on March 27 of the monetary policy, the Central Bank committee kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 10 percent for the third time in a row.
With inflation hitting a five-year high of 12 percent and the shilling facing intense pressure as elections loom, the bank's stance that will shape the macro-economic environment in the next few months is highly anticipated.
Currently, the CBK has forex reserves totalling 8.2 billion U.S. dollars, an equivalent to 5.5 months of import cover, which according to analysts, will be able to support the shilling in the short term.
