Diaspora Remittances rise 11.76 per cent despite slowing western economies

Business Daily
Diaspora remittances from Kenyans living abroad have risen 11.76 per cent in the year to October compared to a similar period last year. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Tuesday said the inflows stood at Sh9.7 billion ($112.9 million) in October this year compared to last year’s Sh7.9 billion ($91.6 million). Kenyans living abroad sent home Sh107.88 billion ($1.26 billion) in the twelve months to October 2013, an 11.76 per cent increase from the Sh96.57 ($1.13 billion) sent home over a similar period of time in last year. “The strong performance underscores the resilience of remittances during the review period in spite of the sluggish economic performance in source regions, CBK said in a statement. Additionally, the remittances grew 5.1 per cent month on month from September’s Sh9.3 billion ($107.5 million) this year.

Kenyans abroad have been sending money tohelp their relatives at home, invest in real estate projects among others investments. The deepening of mobile money transfer services along with convenient international money transfer platforms such as Western Union and PayPal has over the years facilitated increased money remittances. Data from the central lender shows that the average remittance inflows in the 12 months to October 2013 rose 11.7 to Sh9.1 billion ($105.6 million) from Sh8.1 billion (94.5 million) in the review period last year. Kenyans abroad have since remitted a total of Sh86.5 billion ($1 billion) from January to October this year. North America accounted for 45 per cent of total remittances (Sh38.9 billion) while Europe and the rest of the world at28 per cent and 27 per cent respectively, manifest that north American states hosts largest number of Kenyans with gainful economic activities compared to other regions. Remittances are a major source of foreign exchange for Kenya alongside tea, horticulture and tourism. CBK monitors remittance inflows every month through channels such as banks and international remittance service providers in the country.