Kenya’s central bank pumped dollars into the market early on Thursday in a bid to lift the shilling. This came after President Uhuru Kenyatta’s decision to approve a law capping commercial lending rates, traders said which resulted in weakened of the local currency.
The currency had weakened to 101.50/60 at the start of trading in reaction to the cap on the interest banks can charge borrowers, prompting the central bank to step in, the traders said.
Banking stocks on the Nairobi Securities Exchange also fell sharply at the start of trade on Thursday in reaction to the rate cap.
