Kenya’s foreign exchange reserves hit a new high of $7.896 billion on Friday after rising $121 million, Central Bank said in its weekly update of the financial markets.
The surge comes about a week after the country fully settled its 2 billion dollar Eurobond debt taken in 2014 using a loan from the World Bank.
The foreign exchange stockpile rose from $7.775 billion the previous week, according to the apex bank. Kenya settled the balance, Sh72 billion (about $558.16 million) of the 2 billion Eurobond debt, before the June 24 deadline.
In February, Kenya had successfully raised $1.5 billion in a Eurobond buyback offer as it sought to reduce the chance of defaulting on repayment.
“The usable foreign exchange reserves remained adequate at $7.896 billion, an equivalent of 4.1 months of import cover. This meets the statutory requirement to endeavour to maintain at least 4 months of import cover,” the apex bank said.
With the rise in the forex reserves, the apex bank can adequately support the shilling in case it faces pressure from international currencies.
The shilling has, however, remained stable against regional and global currencies, trading at an average of 128.68 this week
