NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 29– The Central Bank of Kenya Wednesday projected that diaspora inflows into Kenya could rise to USD 3.4 billion in 2021 compared to USD 3.09 billion recorded in 2020.
The projection was made by CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge during the post-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting where he indicated that the figures are subject to how the market continues to respond to post COVID-19 effects.
“We are projecting something in the order of USD 3.4 billion for the year 2021 so that is the number but again we need to re-evaluate this,” Njoroge said.
As of September 29, Kenyans abroad had sent Sh231 billion with July posting the highest cash flows at USD 336.7 million in the period under review.
The trend however declined in August where the remittances in the month of August stood at USD 312.9 million due to what the regulator attributed to the change in the education cycle.
“The seasonality of remittances begins in July the numbers come down, August did it break that seasonality. We believe that it is related to changing the education cycle where people are going back to school,” he said.
The United States of America remains the largest country in terms of the inflows’ contributions.
Diaspora inflows have remained Kenya’s largest source of foreign exchange since 2015.
Remittances also play a key role in providing livelihood to low-income households in the country.
