Remittances sent by overseas Kenyan workers decreased 11.5 per cent in February on a month-on-month basis, the Central Bank said.
Inflows in February 2023 totalled USD 309.2 million compared to USD 349.4 million in January, showed the CBK’s newly released data on Friday.
The cumulative inflows for the 12 months to February 2023 totalled USD 4,026 million compared to USD 3,840 million in February 2022, an increase of 4.8 per cent.
Diaspora remittances play an important role in Kenya’s economy as they are one of the significant sources of foreign exchange.
“The remittance inflows continue to support the current account and the foreign exchange market,” the CBK says.
The latest data by the Central Bank of Kenya shows the usable reserves have fallen further to $6.5 billion (KSh855.4 billion) in the week ending March 17, bringing it down to 3.66 months of import cover.
This is below the statutory threshold of at least four months of import cover and way below the East African Community’s (EAC) statutory threshold of 4.5 months of import cover.
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