The Kenyan Shilling remained stable by 1.1% on Friday to close at Kshs 100.8, from Kshs 101.8 at the end of December 2018 against the US dollar on non-traditional flows from diaspora remittances in Q1’2019.
However, it depreciated marginally by 0.05% against the dollar to close at Kshs 100.8, from Kshs 100.7 during the week ending March 28, due to end-month demand from the energy and manufacturing sector exceeding dollar inflows from remittances.
A positive trend was witnessed with diaspora remittance growth of 31%. “Diaspora remittances remained resilient in February 2019, with inflows amounting to USD 199 million compared to USD 210 million in February 2018. The 12-month cumulative inflows to February increased to USD 2,722 million from USD 2,081 million in February 2018,” according to Central Bank of Kenya data.