The official exchange rate between the US dollar and the Kenyan shilling is expected to reach 210 by the end of this year -2024.
There has been no letup in the devaluation of the Kenya Shilling against the US dollar among commercial banks and forex bureaus.
While the official rate has the shilling at around 160.6 per dollar, it is becoming closer to 170 versus the US dollar in bureaus and commercial banks.
Regardless, as of Friday, January 26th, according to data from the Central Bank of Kenya, the value of the Kenya shilling was 160.6186 US dollars per dollar.
Foreign exchange bureaus, which sometimes provide more favourable rates than commercial banks, bought US dollars at 163–164 and sold them for 166.5–167.5 on the same day.
The official CBK rates are usually based on interbank rates which are similar to wholesale prices. They are different from the retail rates a buyer gets from commercial banks and forex bureaus.
On Monday, January 29, the CBK quoted the shilling as trading at 160.6972 against the US dollar. S&P Global Markets was one of many agencies selling dollars at 166 and purchasing at 163.
Experts predicted that the shilling would hit 210 in 2024, which is coinciding with its economic depreciation.
One example is that the lowest the shilling may legally go this year is 171, according to financial industry experts who talked with Bloomberg.
Bloomberg said that five experts and traders were surveyed, with the worst-case scenario predicting that the shilling might decline to as low as 210 versus the US dollar by the end of the year and the mildest projection putting it at 171.