NAIROBI, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan shilling slid further on Friday against the U.S. dollar as the central bank reportedly intervened to prop it up.
The shilling ended the week at an average of 101.75 per dollar, down from Thursday's 101.50. The Central Bank of Kenya placed the currency at 101.75 to the greenback, the lowest in two weeks, from 101.46 of the previous day.
Commercial banks in the east African nation put the currency at an even lower position of between 101.80 and 101.95.
Currency traders noted the shilling was under pressure from a huge demand for dollars from importers of retail goods and oil, but the apex bank is expected to continue supporting it.
More pressure also came from the revelation that Kenya lost access to a precautionary 1.5 billion dollar credit facility from the International Monetary Fund.
On Thursday, Kenya raised 2 billion dollars from a second Eurobond that was massively oversubscribed, a development expected to boost the shilling. Enditem
