Governor Patrick Njoroge said the long-term picture showed there was not much volatility in the foreign exchange rate.
"Markets were well behaved and therefore there are no concerns about the performance of the shilling or for that matter the performance of the FX market," Njoroge told a news conference.
The shilling depreciated by 3.6% last year, Njoroge said, contrasting its relative stability with other African currencies like the Zambian kwacha, which strengthened by more than a quarter, and the Ethiopian birr, which weakened by a fifth.
Kenya's economy grew by an estimated 8.0% last year as it bounced back from the COVID-19 pandemic slump, the central banker said, adding that growth will still be strong this year at 5.9%.
The robust recovery in growth has been partly aided by a loose monetary policy stance adopted by policymakers at the onset of the crisis in March 2020.
Njoroge said it was hard to say when policymakers would start raising rates again, and increasing the cash reserve requirements for commercial banks which were also lowered sharply, since the country was still battling the health crisis.
The bank's economic growth forecast for this year would be revised once the growth figures for the last quarter were released, he said, brushing aside worries that political risk could curb economic output.
Voters in the East African nation, which experienced electoral violence in 2007-08 and in 2017, go to the polls on Aug. 9 to pick a new president, lawmakers and local authorities.
The bank's current forecast was "quite safe", he said, even putting into account the various scenarios that could arise from the election.
(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Alison Williams)
By Duncan Miriri
