Kenyan shilling inches down, seen in a tight range

NAIROBI, KENYA:  The Kenyan shilling edged down on Tuesday, under pressure from corporate demand for dollars, but traders said it was still held within its recent narrow band.

At 0720 GMT, commercial banks posted the shilling at 102.25/35 per dollar, slightly down from Monday's close of 102.15/25.

Traders attributed the move to light demand for dollars by firms in the morning and predicted the shilling would remain within its recent range of 102.00-102.50.

"There will be end-month demand for dollars but the ominous threat of intervention by the central bank is real so the shilling is still well supported," said a trader with a leading commercial bank.

Hard currency reserves held by the central bank jumped to $6.7 billion from $6.1 billion at the beginning of October, the central bank said, partly due to purchase of dollars on the interbank market and a syndicated loan taken by the government.

The shilling, which is down 11 percent this year, dropped  close to a record low in September before stabilising on the back of high lending rates and central bank interventions in the market.