Kenyan shilling records highest gain in 12 years

THE Kenyan currency continues to thread in a positive direction as it records another gain against the US dollar. The Kenyan Shilling which has been slowly recovering since the year began recently posted its highest gain in 12 years. This substantial gain boosted the currency to its strongest levels since November 2023.

A report by the Kenyan business newspaper, BusinessDaily, showed that the Kenyan Shilling experienced a significant resurgence owing to a wave of investor confidence that followed the government's large inflows to settle the US$2 billion Eurobond.

The currency which is now trading below Sh153,75 at some commercial banks is the strongest it has been since November 2023, as it has managed to wipe out all the losses incurred this year. According to the publication, the Kenyan Shilling has been on an upward trend for 11 straight days and counting.

“For instance, Equity Bank quoted the dollar on Wednesday at Sh153,75, while KCB had a quote of Sh157,5, the highest among eight banks,” tracked by the Business Daily.

“For their part, forex bureaus were selling the dollar between Sh152 and Sh157. On Tuesday, the CBK had quoted the local unit at Sh156,7 against the dollar,” BusinessDaily added.

At the start of the month, Kenyan banks had quoted nothing surpassing Sh164,50/ US$1 dollars. Also, late last month, the Kenyan Shilling experienced a gain of 0,73 percent against the US dollar. The currency had not experienced this sort of gain in over 3 years, as the Shilling went from 161,36 to 160.19.