President William Ruto anticipates a reduction in dollar demand in the country as the government plans to import fuel in Kenya shillings.
“I am giving you free advice that those of you who are hoarding dollars you shortly might go to losses you better do what you must do because this market is going to be different in a couple of weeks,” he said.
Ruto’s remark comes after the cost of buying a dollar rose to as high as Sh145.5 per dollar yesterday.
Due to high demand from importers, the country’s dollar demand has increased in recent years.
However, dollar requests are expected to fall after the Kenyan government and its Saudi counterpart signed an import deal for credit-based fuel importation.
Early this month, Energy Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir stated that the oil import deal would see the state-run National Oil Corporation (NOCK) import 30% of the country’s monthly fuel requirement.
The above will be on credit for six months to a year, allowing the government to relieve pressure on the dollar.
“And So I just want to assure those in Kenya who were facing challenges of access to dollars that we have taken steps to ensure that dollar availability in the next couple of weeks is going to be very different because our fuel companies will now be paying for fuels in Kenya shilling,” the President said during the listing of the Laptrust Imara I-REIT at the Nairobi Securities Exchange today.
“They do not to look for dollars every month because we have done what we must do as a government to ensure that we ease the burden on people who want to realize their returns in dollars,” he added.
According to the most recent Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) weekly bulletin, the country’s usable foreign exchange reserves were USD 6.56 billion (Sh852.2 billion) on March 9, equivalent to 3.67 months of import cover.
Kenya imports and pays in dollars for the vast majority of its fuel from countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, among others.
Dollar demand appears to be easing today, with the cost of buying one dollar falling to around Sh140 from Sh145.5 yesterday.
