The Kenyan shilling firmed slightly against the US dollar on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, trading at Sh129.71 according to the Central Bank of Kenya's (CBK) daily exchange rates, as markets await the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority's (EPRA) monthly fuel price review due by October 14. It was the second straight day of gains, and it erased the slide seen last week.
The currency has strengthened from Sh129.91 on Friday to Sh129.75 on Monday and now Sh129.71. That is back to the Sh129.71 recorded on October 1, after the CBK's weekly bulletin showed a slide to Sh129.94 on October 8.
Against other major currencies, the pound traded at Sh171.64 from Sh171.67 on Monday, the euro at Sh145.00 from Sh145.32, and 100 Japanese yen at Sh81.77 from Sh81.94. The rand was unchanged at Sh7.84.
Regional currencies were mixed. One Kenyan shilling bought 32.03 Ugandan shillings, up from 31.21 on Monday, a much larger move than for any other currency in the CBK's list. It bought 20.35 Tanzanian shillings, up slightly from 20.34, and 11.37 Rwandan francs, up from 11.36.
Oil prices are the bigger risk. The CBK bulletin showed Murban crude rising to $101.67 a barrel on October 8 from $95.76 a week earlier, an increase of about 6.2%, which People Daily put at about Sh13,207 a barrel at the exchange rate then. A steady shilling cushions some of that increase, but it cannot offset a large jump in global prices.
The CBK's Monetary Policy Committee kept the Central Bank Rate at 8.75% on October 7, identified higher global energy and food prices as a risk to inflation, and said it expects inflation to stay within its target range, supported by monetary policy, government interventions and a stable exchange rate. Inflation was 6.8% in September. The CBK's usable reserves stood at $14.736 billion, equal to 5.9 months of import cover.
EPRA's decision will show how much of the recent rise in global oil prices reaches the pump.
The CBK's rates are indicative. Banks and forex bureaus quote their own buying and selling rates, which differ from the published figures.
