This archive report was first published on 26 July 2019.
On July 25, 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta appointed Labour Minister Ukur Yatani as acting finance minister, following the charges against Henry Rotich.
Central Bank of Kenya Governor Patrick Njoroge attributed the shilling's weakness this week to excess liquidity in the money markets and increased hard currency demand from private companies.
"I don't know what a vacuum is in an institution like that. There are processes. There are mechanisms in place, and those mechanisms are executed. And it has to be done legally," Njoroge said in a news conference.
According to Njoroge, seasonal demand for dollars from companies to pay dividends to their overseas shareholders had also contributed to the pressure on the shilling.
"We expect those imbalances will sort themselves out, we expect inflows," Njoroge said, referring to hard currency earnings from farm exports and tourism.
The economy, East Africa's largest, is likely to grow by at least 6 per cent this year, helped by a stronger-than-expected recovery in its key agriculture sector, the governor said.
