The Kenya shilling demonstrated stability against major international and regional currencies during the week ending February 26, 2026. Kenyan shilling gained slightly against the Ugandan shilling. The local currency maintained its position against the US dollar and recorded slight gains against the Euro and the Ugandan shilling. What is the performance of the Kenyan Shilling against major international currencies? The shilling exchanged at KSh 129.02 per US dollar on February 26, unchanged from February 19, 2026, and indeed unchanged throughout the two-week period from February 13 to February 26. This stability against the greenback suggest continued confidence in Kenya’s foreign exchange markets and sufficient dollar liquidity in the economy. Against the Sterling Pound, the shilling recorded a slight appreciation, moving from KSh 175.18 per pound on February 19 to KSh 173.96 per pound on February 26, representing a marginal gain for the local currency. The shilling had traded at KSh 175.53 per pound on February 13, meaning the Kenyan currency strengthened against the British currency over the two-week period leading to the end of February 2026. The Kenyan Shilling posted modest gains against the Euro during the week under review. On February 19, the shilling exchanged at KSh 152.12 per Euro, but by February 26, it had strengthened to KSh 151.94 per Euro.
This represents a slight appreciation of approximately 0.12% against the common European currency over the week. Looking at the two-week trend, the shilling traded at KSh 153.05 per Euro on February 13, meaning the local currency has gained approximately 0.73% against the Euro during the period under review. What was the Shilling’s performance against regional currencies? In the East African region, the Kenyan shilling recorded gains against the Ugandan shilling and lost slightly against the Tanzanian Shilling and posting mixed results against other regional currencies. Against the Ugandan shilling, the Kenya currency strengthened slightly. On February 19, one Kenya shilling bought 27.62 Ugandan shillings, but by February 26, the rate had improved to 27.84 Ugandan shillings per Kenya shilling. This represents a gain of approximately 0.8% for the Kenyan currency. The Kenyan shilling weakened slightly against the Tanzanian shilling during the week. On February 19, one Kenya shilling bought 20.07 Tanzanian shillings, but by February 26, the rate had declined to 19.84 Tanzanian shillings per Kenya shilling. This represents a marginal loss of approximately 1.15% for the Kenyan currency against its southern neighbor’s currency.
Against the Rwandese Franc, the shilling remained largely stable, moving marginally from 11.28 francs per Kenya shilling on February 19 to 11.29 francs per Kenya shilling on February 26. The shilling recorded a negligible loss against the Burundi Franc, moving from 22.98 francs per Kenya shilling on February 19 to 22.97 francs per Kenya shilling on February 26, a marginal decline of approximately 0.04 percent. Kenya shilling exchange rates.What is the Kenyan shilling outlook? The stability of the Kenyan Shilling against the US dollar, coupled with adequate foreign exchange reserves, suggests continued resilience in the near term, according to Daniel Kathali, an economist. “The slight gains against the Euro and regional currencies indicate that the shilling is holding its ground in a global environment where many emerging market currencies face pressure. However, the escalation of the conflict between the United States, Israle and Iran is a developing situation to watch. The conflict has affected travel, trade, and oil transportation across the middle east, which is most likely going to affect the US dollar and other currencies,” Kathali opined. The stability of the shilling has been largely supported by adequate foreign exchange reserves, which stood at USD 12.535 billion (about KSh 1.62 trillion), equivalent to 5.4 months of import cover, comfortably above the Central Bank of Kenya’s statutory requirement of maintaining at least four months of import cover.
