A teller serves a client with Kenya shilling notes at the cashier’s booth of a forex exchange bureau in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, April 20, 2016. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo

NAIROBI, July 10 (Reuters) – Kenya’s shilling weakened on Wednesday, pressured by increased foreign-currency demand and a credit rating downgrade by Moody’s, traders said.

At 0800 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 128.25/129.25 per dollar, compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of 127.75/128.75.

Moody’s pushed Kenya’s sovereign rating deeper into junk territory on Monday, citing the country’s diminished capacity to implement a fiscal consolidation strategy after the president withdrew planned tax hikes in response to mass protests.

Traders said the higher foreign-currency demand was mainly coming from the manufacturing sector and general goods importers.

(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Alexander Winning)