RemittancesGateway.org

Kenyan Remittances Climbed to $52.7 Million in April

Saturday, 19 June 2010 17:44

Kenyans living abroad sent home $52.7 million in April, an increase of 9.6 percent from a year earlier, after the economies of countries that contribute the bulk of remittances improved, the Central Bank of Kenya said.

Total inflows in the four months through April amounted to $196.5 million, little changed from $196.4 million a year earlier, the Nairobi-based bank said in a statement on its website late yesterday.

“The pick-up in April 2010 can indirectly be attributed to improving economic conditions in the regions of origin and improved prospects for economic recovery at home,” according to the statement. Kenyan residents of North America and Europe together provide 82 percent of remittance flows to the East African country, it said.

Economic growth in Kenya, East Africa’s largest economy, may accelerate 4 percent this year and 5 percent next year as improved rainfall boosts agricultural output and stable power supplies help manufacturers, the World Bank said on June 3.

The economy of Kenya, which relies on agriculture to generate a quarter of its gross domestic product, expanded 2.6 percent last year amid a prolonged drought, it said. Kenya is the world’s largest exporter of black tea.