Sharp Daily
No Result
View All Result
Monday, June 2, 2025
  • Home
  • News
    • Politics
  • Business
    • Banking
  • Investments
  • Technology
  • Startups
  • Real Estate
  • Features
  • Appointments
  • About Us
    • Meet The Team
Sharp Daily
  • Home
  • News
    • Politics
  • Business
    • Banking
  • Investments
  • Technology
  • Startups
  • Real Estate
  • Features
  • Appointments
  • About Us
    • Meet The Team
No Result
View All Result
Sharp Daily
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Government in talks with CBK to avert dollar shortage crisis

Dennis Otsieno by Dennis Otsieno
March 23, 2023
in News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
photo/courtesy

photo/courtesy

The government is considering reinstating the interbank foreign exchange market to iron out the US dollar shortage that has seen the shilling fall to the lowest levels in history.

Speaking while officiating the listing of Laptrust’s Income-Real Estate Investment Trust (i-REIT) at the Nairobi Securities Exchange on Wednesday, Ruto said the talks with CBK to reinstate the interbank foreign exchange market aimed at sorting the on-going global dollar shortage are at advanced stage.

Read: Kenya’s Credit Outlook Downgraded Amid Tight Liquidity Position

The president’s sentiments come a week after banking experts dismissed dollar shortage claims, saying most lenders are holding on to the currency after CBK instituted tough measures to control the interbank FX market.

RELATEDPOSTS

NSE deserves more attention from young investors

May 29, 2025

Real yields vs. nominal yields on Kenya’s government bonds

May 21, 2025

The acute dollar shortage has seen importers cut on consignments, limiting product supply in the market, a move likely to see a spike in the already high inflation.

Economists have projected the March inflation rate to close in on the 10-percent mark. In February, the cost of living grew marginally to 9.2 per cent from 9.0 percent recorded in January.

Read:Dollar Scarcity Hurts Importers And Manufacturers

Kenya has grappled with a dollar crisis for at least eight months now pushing inflation above the government’s ceiling of 7.5 percent.

The country’s forex reserves have since fallen to 3.6 months of import cover, the lowest since 2013. This has also seen some large forex consumers like Kenya Power forced to seek a dollar-denominated loan worth Kshs. 6.0 billion to refinance two commercial debts.

The apex bank has, however, continued to insist that there is sufficient foreign currency in the country to meet demand, brushing off dollar shortage concerns by importers.

While the dollar crisis is not just in Kenya, the blockage of the interbank forex market has done more harm than protecting the market. Although CBK wanted to control speculative dollar pricing by banks, the parallel market is selling above 10 units of the official rate.

Read: 12 More Digital Lenders Licensed By CBK

The Government’s deal that was signed two weeks ago allowing oil imports on a credit basis for up to six months is expected to help ease the dollar demand given that oil imports constitute 28% of Kenya’s monthly import expenditure. However, more still needs to be done to further reduce the pressure on the currency, especially import substitution in other sectors.

Email your news TIPS to editor@thesharpdaily.com

Previous Post

DFSAK Reports Ksh 500 billion disbursed to SMEs in 8 years

Next Post

Students decry high tuition fees after missing out on HELB

Dennis Otsieno

Dennis Otsieno

Related Posts

News

Co-op Bank posts KES 6.9 billion profit in Q1’2025

May 16, 2025
Agriculture And Economy
News

Lets get Kenya out of FATF list

May 9, 2025
News

The downside of Impact Investing

May 2, 2025
News

Leadership challenges at the University of Nairobi

April 24, 2025
News

Easter eggs and earnings: Growing your nest egg with CMMF

April 16, 2025
News

Geoffrey Ruku declares KES 377M net worth during CS vetting

April 15, 2025

LATEST STORIES

Best investments for Kenyan seniors: Secure, predictable & low-risk

May 30, 2025

Why June is the Secret Sweet Spot for Travel

May 30, 2025

Strategies to elevate more women to corporate leadership

May 30, 2025

Tap on Kenya’s 2025 tech revolution

May 30, 2025

How CURBS supports employers and employees

May 30, 2025

NSE deserves more attention from young investors

May 29, 2025

The silent strain of remote work on Kenya’s urban workforce

May 29, 2025

How Kenya’s crypto bill could reshape the digital economy

May 29, 2025
  • About Us
  • Meet The Team
  • Careers
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
Email us: editor@thesharpdaily.com

Sharp Daily © 2024

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Politics
  • Business
    • Banking
  • Investments
  • Technology
  • Startups
  • Real Estate
  • Features
  • Appointments
  • About Us
    • Meet The Team

Sharp Daily © 2024