NAIROBI (Reuters) – The Kenyan shilling was broadly stable against the dollar in a quiet market on Wednesday, traders said.
At 0740 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 133.60/80, largely unchanged from Tuesday’s close.
The shilling has lost 7.8% of its value against the dollar this year, according to Refinitiv data.
President William Ruto said on Tuesday he expected the local unit to strengthen to below 120 per dollar in the next couple of months, citing an oil import deal that will cut demand for dollars, but some traders said this was unrealistic.
Kenya signed an oil import deal with companies in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia last month, putting in place a longer credit period and altering the structure of the deal to stagger demand for dollars in the market.
(Reporting by Hereward Holland; Editing by Estelle Shirbon)
