Kenya's remittances from diaspora rise by 20.3% in August

NAIROBI -- Remittances to Kenya increased by 20.3 percent to 128.8 million U.S. dollars in August compared to 107.0 million in the same period in 2013, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) said on Monday.

"Remittance inflows remained resilient in the 12 months to August, with the cumulative flow having posted an increase of 12.4 percent to 1.38 billion dollars from 1.23 billion dollars in the year to August 2013," CBK said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

 According to the CBK, most of the diaspora remittances came from North America, which accounted for 50 percent of total inflows, and increased by 22 percent to 64.0 million dollars. Inflows from Europe and rest of the world increased marginally by 0.47 percent to 31.5 million dollars and 0.56 percent to 33.3 million dollars, respectively.

A remittance is money sent by a person in a foreign land to his home country. Due to the huge sums involved, remittances are now being recognized as an important contributor to Kenya's growth and development.The CBK conducts a survey on remittance inflows every month through the formal channels that include commercial banks and other authorised international remittances service providers in Kenya.