NAIROBI, Kenya, October 26 – The Central Bank of Kenya has reported that September diaspora remittance inflows stood at USD 309.8 million(Sh34.4 billion), a one percent decline from the USD 312.9 million(Sh43.8 billion) recorded in August.
The regulator, however, noted that the inflows represented an 18.8 percent increase from the USD 260.7 million (Sh28.9 billion) reported during the same period in 2020.
Overall, the cumulative inflows for the 12 months to September stood at USD 3,530 million(Sh392.3 billion) compared to USD 2,967 million(Sh329.8 billion) in the same period in 2020 representing a 19 percent increase.
“Remittance inflows totaled USD 309.8 million in September 2021 compared to USD 260.7 million in September 2020, an 18.8 percent increase. However, remittance inflows in September declined marginally by 1.0 percent compared to USD 312.9 million in August, in line with seasonal factors,” CBK noted in its weekly bulletin.
The CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge had projected that diaspora inflows into Kenya could rise to USD 3.4 billion in 2021 compared to USD 3.09 billion recorded in 2020.
Diaspora inflows have remained Kenya’s largest source of foreign exchange since 2015 with the United States of America remaining the largest country in terms of the inflows’ contributions.
During the post-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held in September, Njoroge 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.
