Kenya’s forex reserves have hit an all-time low amid dollar crisis with the shilling at 129 units as of Friday.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) released its weekly bulletin which showed the country’s usable foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 6.56 billion (Sh852.2billion) as of March 9, equivalent to 3.67 months of import cover.
The reserves, which fell from 6.96 billion USD as of February 9, are in breach of the Central Bank of Kenya Act (Section 26) and of the EAC Monetary Union Protocol.
The Act requires that CBK “at all times use its best endeavors to maintain a reserve of external assets at an aggregate amount of not less than the value of four months’ imports as recorded and averaged for the last three preceding years.
Even with Kenya’s reserves depleting, the National Treasury has maintained that Kenya has enough dollars in its reserves despite reports suggesting that the trade currency is extremely scarce.
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Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo said on Friday that figures from the Central Bank show the country has enough dollar supply.
“Most commercial banks in the country have dollars. What’s happening is that those dollars are not being released to the market,” he said.
The US dollar has soared to a 20-year high forcing central banks across the world to drain reserves to stem the depreciation of their currencies.