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NAIROBI, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Kenya shilling weakened to 103.3against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday as political bickering overOct. 26 polls continued.
The shilling had firmed to 103.22 on Tuesday, but was weigheddown by increased demand of dollars from importers to settle at103.31 on Wednesday, according to the Central Bank.
Commercial banks, on the other hand, quoted the currency atbetween 103.25 and 103.45, which were the same margins as it hadtraded on Tuesday.
Traders in the financial institutions noted there was a rise ininflows, which had helped balance demand of dollars from importersamid tight liquidity in the market.
Analysts expect the currency to remain stable against the dollarin the meantime supported by the Central Bank, which has sufficientreserves of 7.4 billion dollars, an equivalent to five months ofimport cover, with elections being the main risk to itsstability.
The Kenya shilling gained against the dollar by 0.5 percent inthe third quarter to close at 103.2, from 103.7 at the end ofJune.
Cytonn, a Nairobi-based investment firm, attributed thecurrency's third-quarter rise to speculative investors' selling ofdollars they had bought in the run-up to the Aug. 8 elections andbuying back the shilling, and to dollar inflows from foreigninvestors to the local equity and debt markets. Enditem