Kenyans In The Diaspora Sent Home USD 340.4 Million, A 7.05% y/y Increase But A 3.96% m/m Decline

Diaspora remittances for September 2023 came in at USD 340.4m, a 7.05% y/y increase but a 3.96% m/m decline.

This takes the cumulative diaspora remittance inflows for the first nine months of 2023 to USD 3.11bn compared to USD 2.99bn over the same period in 2022, an increase of 3.82%. See the chart below;

Read Also: Top 10 Lucrative Business Ideas To Earn Money With Zero Investments

During the week, liquidity in the money market tightened, as the average interbank rate increased to 12.47%, from 12.10%, the previous week.

Simultaneously, there was a significant decline in average traded volumes, which contracted by 37.43% to KES 19.40bn, compared to the previous week’s KES 31.0bn.

The Central Bank continued to provide support to liquidity-constrained entities by infusing KES 99.87bn in liquidity through a 7-day reverse repo purchase at a rate of 12.86%.

Read Also: The Lonely Path Of Retirement Where Money Is The Only Friend

Notably, the figure marked a four-month high, underscoring the prevailing liquidity challenges within the money market.

In the secondary bond market, the weekly turnover reversed the previous week’s declines by 162.04% coming in at KES 9.85bn, from KES 3.76bn the previous week.

Meanwhile, the fiscal agent has extended an offering of KES 50bn through a six-and-a-half-year infrastructure bond; IFB1/2023/6.5. Anticipated to elicit considerable interest, this issuance is particularly appealing due to its tax-free status and the open structure of the bond, characterized by a market-determined coupon rate.

Given the prevailing market dynamics, it is expected that investors will push for elevated yields, resulting in a correspondingly higher coupon rate. The period of sale runs up to 8th November 2023.

Read Also: Mastering Money Matters: The Key To Financial Empowerment