Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced that the country’s foreign exchange reserves have risen to a record high of 15.4 billion U.S. dollars, following a sharp increase in capital inflows from the government’s partial divestiture of its stake in Safaricom.
In its latest weekly financial markets update released on Friday, the central bank said the reserves increased from 13.85 billion dollars recorded the previous week, marking a rise of 1.55 billion dollars.
The increase was mainly driven by proceeds from the government’s partial sale of shares in Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecommunications company.
The latest reserve level is equivalent to 6.4 months of import cover, up from 5.9 months a week earlier.
“This meets CBK’s statutory requirement to endeavour to maintain at least four months of import cover,” the central bank said.
Foreign exchange reserves are assets held by the central bank in foreign currencies. They are used to finance imports, service external debt and support the country’s foreign exchange market when necessary.
CBK Governor Kamau Thugge has said the reserves are expected to increase further in the coming weeks following the expected inflow of about 855 million dollars from South African lender Nedbank’s acquisition of a 66 per cent stake in a Kenyan bank.
According to CBK data, Kenya’s foreign exchange reserves have remained above 12 billion dollars since January 2026. The latest increase pushes the reserves to their highest level on record.
The central bank publishes the reserve figures every week as part of its financial markets update, alongside data on the exchange rate, interbank market activity, Treasury bill auctions and government securities.
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