Nairobi, April 28 -- Before the US and Israel went to war with Iran on February 28, the shilling had traded at Sh129.02 against the dollar for 19 straight days.

This remarkable run that saw the local unit sit at the Sh129 level to the dollar for more than a year was shaken by the war, pushing the rate to the 130 level by April 7, the highest in 20 months.

The creeping volatility is partly attributed to rising demand for the greenback by importers who were wary of the impact of a weakening shilling on their costs.

It forced the Central Bank (CBK) to stabilise the market with dollar sales that have contributed to a decline in the country's forex reserves by $1.36 billion (Sh175.8 billion) to $13.24 billion (Sh1.71 trillion) since March 5...