The Central Bank of Kenya held $8.309 billion (about Sh856.66 billion) in foreign exchange reserves at the end of last week, a record high for a weekly close, the bank’s data showed. The bank said in its weekly bulletin, seen by Reuters on Wednesday, that the reserves were enough to cover about five-and-half months worth of imports. There was no immediate explanation for the high reserves, which are legally required to be at a minimum of four months worth of imports. The bank has struggled to build up reserves in the past, due to low exports that are far outstripped by imports of items like petrol. The shilling has been broadly stable this year, trading at 102.50-103.90 units per dollar, Reuters data showed.

Source: The Star May 03, 2017 21:22 UTC