Negative sentiments push Kenya shilling to 8-month low

Source: Xinhua| 2018-10-31 22:56:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan
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NAIROBI, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan shilling has declined to an eight-month low against the U.S. dollar affected by negative sentiments in the market.

The local currency traded at 101.85 on Wednesday down from 101.73 in the previous session, the central bank showed, with analysts noting negative sentiments had helped push the unit lower.

The last time the shilling traded at such a level was in February at the time Kenya was in political distress following elections in October 2017.

One of the sentiments that has affected the shilling is the indication by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the currency is overvalued by up to 17.5 percent.

The global lender noted last week that the shilling risked being classified as "managed" rather than operating on the forces of demand and supply due to frequent backing up of the currency by the central bank through sale of dollars.

On Tuesday, reports that Kenya will go for over 2.5 billion dollars external financing via the Eurobond and syndicated loans also affected the currency.

Other factors that have affected the shilling are excess liquidity in the money market and increased demand for the dollar by oil importers.

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