Keep close eye on exchange rate

Over the last month or two, the exchange rate has come back as a topic of national economic discussion. This time, though, it is not over its appreciation against the major foreign currencies (an issue exporters had complained about), but its depreciation.

In the last two years, the export sectors (mainly tourism and agriculture) have been clamouring for intervention by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to influence a reversal of the appreciation of the shilling. Some had even gone as far as calling for the re-introduction of a pegging regime (partially if not wholly).