NAIROBI, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Kenya shilling slipped against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday as uncertainty over Oct. 26 repeat polls persisted amid high demand of dollars from importers.
The shilling traded at 103.34 to the greenback down from 103.27, according to the Central Bank of Kenya.
The drop was the biggest since the start of the week, with the apex bank data hinting at further drop the rest of the week, albeit marginally. On Tuesday, the currency weakened against the dollar by 0.01 percent and on Monday by 0.03 percent.
On the other hand, commercial banks quoted the value of the shilling against the dollar Wednesday at between 103.25 and 103.45, same as it was in the previous day.
Traders at the institutions, however, noted there was increased rise in inflows especially from the horticulture sector though importers were sustaining month-end dollar demand.
The shilling, however, strengthened against the British Pound to close at 138.94 from the previous session's 139.47.
But even as the shilling faces turbulence, analysts at Cytonn, a Nairobi-based investment firm, expect the local unit to remain relatively stable to the dollar in the short-term.
This would be due to the weakening of the dollar in the global markets and East African nation's forex exchange reserves which stand at five months of import cover.
