NAIROBI, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan shilling held steady against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday amid high inflows and slow dollar demands from importers.
The local unit was placed at an average of 103.3 against the dollar, some 0.01 percent surge from Monday's level.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) placed the shilling at 103.33 to the dollar, the same level the local unit closed the previous day.
However, commercial banks quoted the value of the Kenyan currency at between 103.25 and 103.45, as traders noted the shilling had steadied due to dollar inflows from non-governmental organizations, which helped balance off dollar demands from importers.
On the other hand, the shilling strengthened marginally against the British pound Tuesday to stand at 132.95 from 132.96.
Analysts noted the shilling would stabilize going forward despite pressure from high dollar demand from oil and retail importers.
"In the coming months, given the high forex reserve level, currently at 8.2 billion dollars or equivalent to 5.4 months of import cover, and the IMF having maintained Kenya's precautionary credit facility at 1.5 billion dollars that Kenya can draw in case of any balance of payment emergencies, we believe that the shilling should remain stable," said Cytonn, a Nairobi-based investment firm. Enditem
