Quarterly Balance of Payments – First Quarter 2024
About Report
Statistical Releases
Quarterly BOP Reports
June
2024
Overview
The Current Account Balance rose by 18.8 per cent from a deficit of KSh 110.5 billion in the first quarter of 2023 to a deficit of KSh 131.2 billion in the first quarter of 2024. This was occasioned by an increase in merchandise imports which rose by 17.9 per cent to KSh 640.0 billion notwithstanding the 28.0 per cent increase in merchandise exports to KSh 298.4 billion over the same period. In addition, the increase in debits associated with the Primary Income Account from KSh 67.4 billion in the first quarter of 2023 to KSh 99.8 billion in the first quarter of 2024 contributed to the deterioration of the Current Account Balance. This resulted from increased servicing of external debt of general government, specifically on the International Sovereign Bond (ISB) in February, 2024. On the contrary, the surplus in the secondary income account rose by 40.4 per cent, largely attributable to increased remittance inflows which grew by 40.4 per cent to KSh 181.0 billion during the quarter under review. Increased disbursements on external financing resulted to an increase in the stock of gross official reserves from KSh 921.3 billion in the first quarter of 2023 to KSh 1,029.8 billion in the first quarter of 2024.