The Kenya Shilling held steady against major international and regional currencies during the week ending June 18, 2020. In the week, the shilling averaged KSh106.45 against the US Dollar, KSh134.20 against the Sterling pound, KSh120.23 against the Euro, and KSh99.30 against the Japanese Yen.
The local market’s tight liquidity coupled with inflows from horticulture exports aided the shilling against destabilization due to increasing demand from merchandise importers and manufacturers.
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FX Reserves
In addition, CBK weekly bulletin for the week ending June 19 shows that usable FX Reserves remained adequate at KSh987.643 billion ($9,278 million) equivalent to 5.58 months of import cover.
Money Markets
The money market remained liquid in the week supported by government payments which offset tax receipts. Commercial banks’ excess reserves stood at Ksh39.1 billion in relation to the 4.25% Cash Reserves Requirement (CRR).
The average interbank rate was 3.48% on June 18 compared to 2.59% on June 11. The average number of interbank deals per day remained stable at 11 compared to 10 in the previous week, and the value traded was also relatively stable at Ksh3.7 billion compared to Ksh4.0 billion in the previous week.
Equity Market
At the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), the NASI and the NSE 25 share price indices increased by 1.5% and 1.7%, respectively, during the week ending June 18.
Market capitalization, equity turnover and the number of shares traded also increased by 1.5%, 17.5%, and 3.3%, respectively.
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