Kenyans living and working abroad sent home $208.2 million (Sh22.3 billion) in April 2020, the latest data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows.
This translates to a nine percent drop (Sh2.2 billion) compared to Sh24.5 billion remitted in the previous month (March) attributed to the global Covid-19 outbreak.
The amount was the lowest monthly remittance from Kenyans in the diaspora since February 2019 when the inflows stood at $199 million (Sh21.2 billion).
CBK in its latest weekly bulletin said remittances from Kenyans in Canada and the United States (North America) remained unchanged during the period under review. The region accounted for 58 percent of the total inflows in April.
“Remittance flows from the US and Canada remained largely unchanged from March, while inflows from UK, Germany, South Africa, EAC region, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia declined, reflecting the impact of Covid-19,” CBK noted.
CBK expects diaspora remittances to slump in the coming months due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy. The pandemic has seen many Africans working abroad laid off or sent on unpaid leave and are now surviving on their savings.
Remittances from the diaspora have remained Kenya’s leading source of foreign exchange since 2015, ahead of earnings from tourism, tea, coffee and horticulture exports. In Africa, Kenya is the fourth-largest recipient of diaspora remittances behind Egypt, Nigeria, and Ghana.
Last year, Kenyans abroad sent home $2.7 billion (Sh280 billion), a new annual record, according to CBK. This represented a 3.7 percent growth from the previous year when diaspora remittances stood at $2.6 billion (Sh272.3 billion).
The World Bank projects a global decline in remittances by about 20 percent citing the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
This would be the biggest fall in recent history largely due to a decline in the wages and employment of migrant workers, who are more vulnerable to loss of employment during an economic crisis, the World Bank said.
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