NAIROBI, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- The Kenya shilling was largely unchanged against the U.S. dollar on Monday as the country's political climate worsened.
Opposition supporters protested on the streets of Nairobi and other parts of country disrupting business as they called for changes at the electoral commission ahead of Oct. 26 polls. The frequency of the protests has been increased to three a week.
Despite the worsening business environment, the shilling was firm, exchanging against the greenback at an average of 103.2 same as last Friday.
The Central Bank quoted the Kenya shilling at 103.22, which was a slight decline from last Friday's 103.21.
On the other hand, commercial banks put the shilling at between 103.15 and 103.35, the same level it was quoted on Friday, with traders noting the currency would take direction from political developments in the country.
Last week, the Kenya shilling remained relatively stable against the dollar due to inflows from horticulture export earnings that offset demand from oil importers.
However, despite the negative political happenings, analysts expect the shilling to remain stable in the short-term.
"The shilling should remain relatively stable against the dollar in the short-term, supported by the weakening of the dollar in the global markets, increased diaspora remittances that grew by 5.3 percent to 1 billion dollars in seven months to July and the CBK's activity as there are sufficient forex reserves, currently at 7.4 billion dollars." Enditem
