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Kenya Shilling Has First Gain in Two Weeks as Bond Sale Begins - BLOOMBERG
July 26, 2024 at 6:05AM EDT
(Bloomberg) -- Kenya’s shilling gained the most in eight weeks as the East African nation’s central bank began a sale of two infrastructure bonds expected to boost dollar inflows.
The shilling strengthened 0.8% to 131.42 shilling per dollar by 12:30 p.m. in the capital, Nairobi, its first gain in 14 days and the largest advance since May 30.
The unit that’s Africa’s best-performing currency this year weakened against the dollar for 12 consecutive days through July 24 before closing Thursday trading unchanged.
“The shilling reversed the recent trend and strengthened against the dollar owing to improved foreign-currency inflows,” according to a note by Nairobi-based NCBA Bank Kenya. “Looking ahead, we expect the pair to remain around the current levels, albeit with a bullish bias for the shilling as inflows support the local unit.”
Kenya plans to raise at least 50 billion shillings ($379.8 million) from tax-exempt securities from July 25 to Aug. 14. The coupon on the reopened 6.5-year bond is 17.9327% and 14.399% for the reissued 17-year bond, according to a prospectus issued Thursday.
