Kenya: Expect Exchange Rate Pressure to Cool, Central Bank Boss Reassures

4 October 2023

Nairobi — The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Kamau Thugge expects exchange rate pressure to cool very soon, even as Kenya's shilling continues on a downward spiral against the American Dollar.

The expected stabilization of the shilling will be buoyed by declining imports and rising exports, among others.

Kenyan shilling has been under intense pressure from capital outflows as major economies such as the United States increase their base lending rates to contain inflationary pressure.

Importers of goods have also been lining up for dollars, exacerbating the problem.

This is even as experts predict the Kenyan shilling to continue losing its value moving forward.

Today, the local unit is exchanging at around 148 for one US dollar, according to the CBK official exchange rate.

Only in March this year did President William Ruto promise Kenyans that the dollar demand would slow after the state signed a government-to-government fuel credit import deal with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

At the time, the cost of buying a dollar had hit a high of Sh145.5.

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