The dollar rate day by day

The table above shows the CBK rate, the open-market rate, and the gap between them for each day over the last two weeks. The CBK publishes no row for weekends and holidays; the open-market column is this site’s own record and starts short. A day shows an open-market figure only if this site took a reading that day.

The CBK rate and the open market, day by day

Each day's CBK rate, open-market rate and the gap, with the CBK rate's change from the previous row.

Rates of: 03.11.2026

The CBK row is not every day

The Central Bank publishes its weighted average of interbank spot trades only on trading days. Weekends and public holidays have no row, so the table shows a gap for those days. That does not mean the rate did not exist; it means the CBK did not publish a figure.

The open-market rate, by contrast, is live every day. Binance P2P advertisements for USDT are posted continuously, and this site takes a reading each day. If a day shows an open-market figure without a CBK row, the gap is not shown because it cannot be calculated.

The open-market column starts short

This site’s own record of open-market readings starts short and grows as readings are taken. A day shows an open-market figure only if this site took a reading on it, so early in the record there are days without a figure. The table is not missing data; it is showing what has been measured so far.

The open-market figure is the median of Binance P2P advertisements for USDT priced in shillings, using advertisers with an order history and dropping advertisements far from the median of their side. It is a stablecoin price settled through M-Pesa or bank transfer, not a banknote price.

The gap is stable

The gap between the CBK rate and the open-market rate is shown in shillings and as a percentage of the CBK rate. It is small, and it moves little from day to day. The stability of the gap matters more than either rate alone because it tells you that the two markets are in line.

If the gap widened, it would mean that the open market was pricing dollars differently from the interbank market. That could happen if there was a shortage of dollars in one market or a change in the cost of moving money through M-Pesa or bank transfer. The gap has stayed small, which means the two markets are well connected.

Why the gap matters more

A reader looking at the CBK rate alone might think the dollar costs one thing; a reader looking at the open-market rate alone might think it costs another. The gap between them shows how far apart the two prices are. Because the gap is small, the two rates are telling the same story.

The gap also shows the cost of using the open market instead of the interbank market. That cost is the price of convenience: the open market settles through M-Pesa or bank transfer, while the interbank market settles through bank accounts. The gap is small because the two markets are liquid and competitive.

Reading the table

Each row in the table is a day. The CBK column shows the weighted average of interbank spot trades for that trading day; the open-market column shows the median of Binance P2P advertisements for that day; the gap column shows the difference between the two, in shillings and as a percentage.

The table does not show a gap for days when the CBK published no row, because the gap cannot be calculated. It also does not show a gap for days when this site took no open-market reading. The table is a record of what has been published and measured, not a forecast.

What the table does not show

The table does not show the rates at which banks or bureaus buy and sell dollars. Those rates sit on either side of the CBK rate: a buying rate below and a selling rate above. The spread between those two rates is the cost of exchanging cash, and it is larger than the gap shown here.

The table also does not show the CBK’s list of forex-bureau rates, because that list is a set of documents whose newest entry is years old. No bureau rate is shown, and no forecast is made. The table records the rates as they were published.