Kenyan shilling trapped in narrow range versus dollar

The Kenyan shilling traded in a tight band against the dollar on Tuesday as inflows were slow and traders said the currency was likely to remain trapped for a few more days.

AT 1020 GMT, commercial banks quoted the local currency at Sh76.65/75 against the dollar compared with Monday's close of Sh76.60/70.

Traders said it had stayed within the Sh76.60 to Sh76.80 range throughout the session.

"It is in a very tight range. The market is very matched, the inflows that are coming in are not that much and they are being met by the demand that we are seeing," said Kennedy Butiko, deputy head of treasury at Bank of Africa.

Mwambu Malamba, a Commercial Bank of Africa trader, said the shilling could trade in the Sh76.00 to Sh77.00 range over the next few sessions with traders looking to the central bank for dollar demand and tea exporters for signs of supply levels.

He said the central bank bought $26 million last week.

The bank has been buying dollars since the beginning of last year to rebuild its hard currency reserves and to support shilling liquidity.