Shilling steady, tipped to stay under pressure in coming days

Kenya: The shilling was steady on Thursday and traders said it was expected to stay under pressure due to importer dollar demand. commercial banks quoted the shilling at 91.35/45 to the dollar, compared with 91.30/40 at Tuesday's close.

"The shilling remains on the backfoot. Though right now what we are seeing is a slowdown in importer (dollar) buying, we should remain in the backfoot. The outlook still remains weak for the shilling," a senior trader at one commercial bank, said.

 The central bank's Monetary Policy Committee was to announce later in the day its latest decision on the bank's key lending rate. In a Reuters poll, all 12 analysts expected the bank to keep the rate at 8.50 per cent, where it has been since May 2013.

"I think they would choose to hold the rate, because now they would want to protect the shilling. I don't think they would cut despite inflation figures coming off," the senior trader said.