Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has rolled out an anonymous online Kenya Diaspora Remittances Survey to run from March 19 to May 17, 2021.
The survey focuses on the costs and efficiency of sending remittances, the difficulties encountered in sending cash or non-cash remittances, how remittances are used by the recipients, and the availability of information on investment opportunities in Kenya.
In a statement on release of individual country data on remittances, CBK says the information will help guide policies intended to boost the role of remittances in supporting the economy and livelihoods.
The importance of remittances has revealed a need for more information that would support policy decisions and thus in collaboration with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the CBK is running the survey.
“We urge Kenyans living abroad to participate in the survey since the remittance inflows continue to provide a stable source of foreign exchange for Kenya and a key support for many households,” the statement says.
Remittance in March 2021 amounted to USD 290.8 million, compared to USD 228.8 million in March 2020, an increase of 27.1 percent while the total remittance for last year 2020 amounted to USD 3,094 million.
The US remains the largest source of these inflows, accounting for 55.9 percent of remittances in March 2021.
Other top source countries are the UK (11.2 percent), Saudi Arabia (4.0 percent), Canada (2.9 percent), and Australia (2.9 percent).
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has also announced the release of additional data on remittances, showing the amounts received from individual countries.
Since 2007, CBK has published monthly data on remittances grouped into three broad regions; North America, Europe, and the Rest of the World.
In addition to this broad grouping, CBK has now introduced a detailed breakdown of the remittances by individual countries from which they were sent.
The new detailed data started in February 2019, and are available on the remittances page on CBK’s website.
By Wangari Ndirangu
