NAIROBI, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's foreign exchange reserves surged for the seventh straight week to hit a two-year high of 8.29 billion U.S. dollars as of Wednesday, as the country continued to bulk its dollar haul, according to a bulletin released on Friday.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said in its weekly update of the financial markets that the new reserves cover 4.3 months of imports, registering a jump from 8.19 billion dollars that covered 4.2 months on Oct. 3.
The forex reserves have risen by 790 million dollars since the start of September, where they stood at 7.5 billion dollars, covering 3.9 months of imports, according to the country's central bank.
At 4.3 months of import cover, the reserves are above the requisite four months of import cover for countries in the East African Community.
In a recent monetary policy meeting, CBK Governor Kamau Thugge attributed the surge in forex reserves to the institution buying dollars from the local market to curb volatility in the currency market.
The Kenyan shilling has remained stable since March, exchanging at an average of 129 to the dollar this week. The stability has enabled the apex bank to shore up the dollars from the local market for bulking.
When the shilling falls, the central bank normally sells dollars to prop up the local unit to curb volatility.
