Diaspora remittances rise by 19pc to Ksh.28.6B in February

Kenyans abroad sent home a high of Ksh.28.6 billion ($260.2 million) in February with the diaspora remittances rising 19 per cent from Ksh.24.1 billion ($219 million).

Cumulatively, the remittances have now grown by 11.4 per cent across the last 12 months to Ksh.351.5 billion ($3.2 billion) from a lower Ksh.307.6 billion ($2.8 billion) in the preceding year.

The continued rise of the diaspora dollar-flows represents the growing importance of the dispatches to Kenya’s domestic economic stable.

Kenya’s diaspora continues to defy ongoing volatility at the global stage as occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic to keep the taps flowing with the bulk of monies sent back home benefiting families and relatives.

In January, the remittances marked a 7.3 per cent increase to hit Ksh.30.5 billion from a lower Ksh.28.4 billion a year earlier according to remittance data provided by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

Across 2020, Kenyans abroad had sent back a record Ksh.341 billion representing an equivalent Ksh.932 million every day.

The flows have been crucial to not just households but also the CBK usable foreign currency reserves which represent external assets held by the reserve bank, readily available for sale to meet balance of payments financing needs.

Subsequent to the booking of higher remittances in February, CBK’s store of foreign currency has risen by Ksh.6.7 billion ($61 million) raising the usable reserves cover to an estimated 4.55 months of imports.

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