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Diaspora remittances into the Kenya declined marginally in June following a global economic meltdown, largely due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

Latest Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data shows that Kenyans living abroad sent home Sh38.6 billion ($326.1 million) in June, a 3.2 per cent dip in remittances, compared to Sh39.96 billion sent a month earlier.

Cumulatively, diaspora remittances for the first six months of the year to June totaled Sh242 billion ($2.045 billion), as CBK observed: “Strong remittances inflows continue to support the current account and the stability of the exchange rate.”

Shilling stablised

During the period under review, the shilling remained stable against major international and regional currencies exchanging at Sh118.23 per US dollar, compared to Sh118.03 in July.

June’s inflows were 6.6 per cent higher compared to Sh36.25 billion ($305.9) million over the same period last year, representing a 16.9 per cent growth in diaspora remittances.

CBK indicates that United States remains the largest source of remittances into Kenya and accounted for 59 per cent of the inflows.

Diaspora remittances last month marginally increased the country’s forex reserve.

“The usable foreign exchange reserves remained adequate at $7,953 million (4.59 months of import cover) as of July 14. This meets CBK’s statutory requirement to maintain at least 4-months of import cover, and the EAC region’s convergence criteria of 4.5 months of import cover,” the regulator said in its weekly bulletin.

Remittances are now Kenya’s top forex earner after agricultural exports and tourism revenues slowed down due to Covid-19 related issues.

Apart from the US, it is the Middle East that has been identified as one of the key drivers of inflows to Kenya in recent days, this as the number of Kenyans securing jobs in the region continues to rise.

The gulf states include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Bahrain, key destinations for domestic jobs.

Data from the Labour ministry show that the number of Kenyans in the Middle East has risen to above 97,000 from about 55,000 in 2019.