Central Bank of Kenya Releases New Data on the Importance of Remittances

Source: The Fintech Times

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has recently announced the release of additional data on remittances, showing the amounts received from individual countries. Since 2007 CBK publishes monthly data on remittances grouped into three broad regions; North America, Europe, and the Rest of the World. In addition to this broad grouping, CBK has now introduced a detailed breakdown of the remittances by individual countries from which they were sent. The new detailed data start in February 2019 and are available on the remittances page on CBK’s website.

Remittance inflows continue to provide a stable source of foreign exchange for Kenya and a key support for many households, totaling $3,094 million in 2020. Remittances in March 2021 amounted to $290.8 million, compared to $228.8 million in March 2020, an increase of 27.1 percent. The US remains the largest source of these inflows, accounting for 55.9 per cent of remittances in March 2021. The other top source countries were: UK (11.2 percent), Saudi Arabia (4 percent), Canada (2.9 percent), and Australia (2.9 percent).