Photo/businessdaily.com
The successful conclusion of a charged General Election has seen the shilling strengthen to a six-week high against the dollar as demand from importers abated on signals for a peacful election.Central Bank of Kenya’s mean indicative rate for the shilling stood at 103.76 units on Tuesday, the lowest since July 5 when it read the same.On Monday It shifted downwards from 103.87, showing that the currency has weathered the pressure it came under last week during the sixth elections in the multi-party era.Commercial banks quoted the shilling at an average of 103.70 to the dollar Tuesday morning. It had opened the week on Monday at 103.85 units to the dollar.“The shilling gained slight ground amidst the political developments in the country after President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the winner in elections last week,” said Kingdom Securities in a market report.Importers had been piling pressure on the shilling at the beginning of last week as they looked to build up their dollar positions ahead of what was expected to be a tight election.The polls, however, passed off relatively peacefully save for protests in a few slum areas of the cities and business has now resumed, calming the money markets.In the year-to-date, the shilling is 1.2 per cent down to the dollar, having opened at a mean of 102.56 units.It has hit a low of 104 on two occasions this year in the last week of January and in the second week of July.