National treasury building in Nairobi/Photo/courtesy
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 10-The Kenya shillings is among the worst performing currencies in Africa amidst regression in several African currencies.
This according to a finding by Bloomberg that placed the local currency at number 7, having depreciated by 20.9 percent against the US dollar.
In the list by Bloomberg. The Nigerian Naira plunged the steepest having depreciated by 55 percent against the dollar.
The Malawian national currency(kwacha) depreciated by 39.1 percent while its Zambian counterpart followed at 29.5 percent in depreciation.
Other currencies in then list include the Burundi and Congolese franc a well as the that have depreciated with 27.6 and 24 percent respectively.
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Kenya local currency has been plunging even deeper against the dollar in a historic low since independence.
Central Bank of Kenya governor Kamau Thugge had disclosed that the shilling will continue to depreciate if need be until it reaches its true value in what he said was an uncontrollable situation.
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According to Ndu’ngu, the depreciation of the local unit against the dollar was happening because the normal exchange rate must move to an equilibrium as the market is only supposed to be regulated and not managed or interfered with.
“The interest rates dropped because there was a better understanding by foreign investors. So that is one window of where the foreign exchange can come in through portfolio because these people are now satisfied that the economy better than other economies,” Thugge noted.
