Kenya Quarterly Balance of Payments First Quarter2022

During the first quarter of 2022, the current account deficit narrowed by 39.7 per cent to KSh 95.0 billion from KSh 157.5 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2021, as shown in Table 1. In the same quarter, merchandise trade balance widened to a deficit of KSh 333.4 billion from a deficit of KSh 281.4 billion in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 18.5 per cent. Over the same period, the value of imports on f.o.b basis increased by 14.5 per cent to KSh 542.5 billion, mainly due to increased imports of petroleum products. Similarly, export earnings grew by 8.8 per cent to KSh 209.1 billion in the first quarter of 2022 as a result of increase in value of exports of tea.