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Kenya’s Current Account Deficit Widens in Third Quarter by 28.9 per cent

BY David Indeje · December 30, 2017 08:12 am

Kenya’s current account deficit widened to 28.9 percent of GDP in the third quarter of 2017 to a deficit of KSh 145.4 billion compared to a deficit KSh 112.8 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2016 according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) on Friday.

This was mainly on account of increased imports valued on free on board basis that was driven by growth in the import bill of food and petroleum products in the third quarter of 2017,” according to the statistics office. 

Further, the statistics office said the economy expanded by 4.4 percent in the third quarter of 2017 compared with 5.6 percent in the same period in 2016 attributed to political uncertainty and ‘effects of adverse weather conditions’.

During the third quarter, merchandise trade deficit widened by 32.5 per cent to KSh 289.7 billion from KSh 218.7 billion in the third quarter of 2016. 

International trade in services balance grew by 22.5 per cent from a surplus of KSh 36.5 billion in the third quarter of 2016 to a surplus of KSh 44.7 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2017, thereby absorbing 15.4 per cent of the merchandise trade deficit.

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Net financial inflows more than halved from a surplus of KSh 67.6 billion in the third quarter of 2016 to a surplus of KSh 27.7 billion in the third quarter of 2017. Gross official reserves decreased by 1.8 per cent from KSh 830.6 billion as at end of September 2016 to KSh 815.5 billion as at end of September 2017 translating to about 5.4 months of import cover.

The country’s  Stock of public and publicly guaranteed external debt increased from KSh 1,854.7 billion as at end of September 2016 to KSh 2,310.2 billion as at end of September 2017 attributed to outstanding syndicated loans that were disbursed in the first and second quarter of 2017.

Stock of public and publicly guaranteed external debt

In the second quarter, the economy expanded by 5.0 percent compared with 6.3 percent in the same period in 2016.

David Indeje is a writer and editor, with interests on how technology is changing journalism, government, Health, and Gender Development stories are his passion. Follow on Twitter @David_IndejeDavid can be reached on: (020) 528 0222 / Email: info@sokodirectory.com

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