The amount of foreign exchange reserves held by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) dipped below $9 billion for the first time in 8 weeks. Kenya’s forex reserves fell by $203 million to $8.986 billion as of August 26 from $9.189 billion as of August 19.
According to CBK, the foreign currency reserves are sufficient to cover 5.49 months of imports, above the bank’s statutory requirement of at least 4 months of import cover.
Kenya has the largest pile of foreign currency reserves in East Africa. In the past three weeks, the forex reserves fell by $366 million to the current level of $8.986 billion, after reaching this year’s peak of $9.621 billion on 15th July.
The Kenya Shilling slightly weakened against major international and regional currencies during the week ending on 26th August. It exchanged at KSh 109.71 per US dollar on August 26, compared to KSh 109.49 per US dollar on August 19.
According to data released by the Central Bank, the money market was liquid during the week ending August 26, supported by government payments, which partly offset tax remittances. Commercial banks’ excess reserves, which is cash owned by the bank and stored physically in the bank vault, stood at KSh 13.2 billion compared to KSh 13.4 billion the previous week.
Also read: Kenya’s Forex Reserves Rise to $9.5 Billion, Highest Level in 12 Months
