July diaspora remittances almost unchanged

President Uhuru Kenyatta meets with the Kenyan diaspora in the USA at a hotel in Washington, DC, on August 8, 2014. Money sent by Kenyans in the diaspora rose by 0.9 per cent in July to Sh10.3 billion ($117 million) compared to Sh10.2 billion wired in the previous, latest data from Central Bank shows. PHOTO| PSCU

By  NATION CORRESPONDENT

What you need to know:

  • The regulator said remittances in the year to July 2014 remained resilient with the cumulative flow rising by 11.7 per cent to Sh119.8 billion ($1.361 billion) indicating this year’s inflows may hit an all-time high. In the year to July 2013, total inflows were Sh107.3 billion
  • Mobile phones are driving remittances globally at the moment. Transactions are now done over the Internet via mobile phones as the new channels compete with traditional money transfer platforms such as Western Union, MoneyGram, Ria and Xpress Money

Money sent by Kenyans in the diaspora rose by 0.9 per cent in July to Sh10.3 billion ($117 million) compared to Sh10.2 billion wired in the previous, latest data from Central Bank shows.

Year-on-year inflows registered 3.8 per cent jump from Sh9.9 billion ($112.8 million) recorded in July 2013.

The regulator said remittances in the year to July 2014 remained resilient with the cumulative flow rising by 11.7 per cent to Sh119.8 billion ($1.361 billion) indicating this year’s inflows may hit an all-time high. In the year to July 2013, total inflows were Sh107.3 billion.
“The 12-month average flow during the year to July 2014 sustained an upward trend and peaked at $113.4 million from $101.6 million in the year to June 2013,” CBK noted.

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Mobile phones are driving remittances globally at the moment. Transactions are now done over the Internet via mobile phones as the new channels compete with traditional money transfer platforms such as Western Union, MoneyGram, Ria and Xpress Money.

Tracking remittance flows into Kenya is difficult due to proliferation of informal money transfer channels. Official figures are collated from commercial banks and stand-alone foreign bureaus.

Annual remittances from Kenyans in the diaspora increased to $1.3 billion (Sh113 billion) in 2013 from $338 million (Sh29 billion) in 2004, a 285 per cent growth.

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