Kenyans abroad sent home $609 million last year, down from a record $611 million in 2008 but higher in local currency terms, the central bank said on Tuesday.
Remittances are a significant source of foreign exchange for east Africa’s biggest economy, coming after horticulture, tea and tourism.
Day-to-day fluctuations in the local currency market are often driven by remittance flows.
Charles Gitari Koori, director of the research department at the Central Bank of Kenya, said after taking into account currency fluctuations, remittances in 2009 came to Sh47.1 billion, up from Sh42.3 billion in 2008.
He said in a statement that 2009 was much better than the previous year because there were no major events to boost remittances, such as mobile operator Safaricom’s IPO or the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008.
Kenyans abroad also sent money home to help relatives after post-election violence in early 2008.
Persistent drought in Kenya during 2009 boosted remittances to help families hit by extensive crop failure and dead livestock, Koori said.
North America remained the main source of remittances, accounting for 52 per cent of the December’s $56.3 million, followed by Europe with 30 per cent — up from 51 and 27 per cent respectively in November.
“In general, the remittances data could signal the fact that economic activities in the source markets are recovering and as such they will be significant sources of future remittances. Overall, these data signals the resilience,” he said.
“Most of the diaspora remittances are used to support investment especially in real estate-construction and investment in equities in the stock market.”
-Source-DailyNation
Comments