Kenya’s currency, the shilling weakened against the dollar as the country’s election commission; announced Deputy President, William Ruto winner of the country’s election the day before.
On Monday, August 15th, the Kenyan shilling was trading at 119.25 shillings per dollar; but fell to its lowest level against the greenback, trading at 199.50 shillings.
The currency of East Africa’s largest economy has fallen by 6.46% against the US dollar since January. Kenya’s incoming President would have to confront concerns about dollar supply head-on.
But the tea-rich country is currently ranked as the second-worst investment destination in the world; by the IMF. Even if the government has rejected this ranking as false, reactionary investors will need more convincing.
Kenya is also on track to spend a record amount of money on servicing its liabilities this year. Budget documents presented in April show that the East African nation’s debt-servicing costs climbed to 1.39 trillion shillings ($12.1 billion) in 2022.