This archive report was first published on 25 September 2019.
Kenya's diaspora remittances have declined for the second month in a row, with a 4.5% drop in August 2019, according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). The decline is attributed to the expiry of the tax amnesty offered by the government for Kenyans to repatriate wealth stashed abroad.
According to the CBK's weekly market bulletin, Kenyans living and working overseas sent home $214 million (Sh22.2 billion) in August 2019, a decrease from $224 million (Sh23.3 billion) recorded in July.
Despite the decline, cumulative diaspora inflows for the first eight months of this year grew to $1.888 billion (Sh196 billion), up from $1.809 billion (Sh187.8 billion) in 2018.
The tax amnesty, announced by suspended Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich in 2016, expired on June 30th this year. The reduced diaspora remittances in July and August are largely attributed to this expiry.
Since 2015, diaspora inflows have been the country's top foreign exchange income earner, ahead of earnings from tea and horticulture exports as well as tourism.
