Kenya Quarterly Balance of Payments First Quarter 2023

The current account deficit narrowed by 39.0 per cent from KSh 139.3 billion in the first quarter of 2022 to KSh 84.9 billion in the similar quarter of 2023 as shown in Table 1. Similarly, merchandise trade recorded a deficit of KSh 303.6 billion in the first quarter of 2023 compared to a deficit of KSh 328.1 billion registered in the first quarter of 2022, a decrease of 7.5 per cent. During the first quarter of 2023, export earnings increased by 9.4 per cent to KSh 233.0 billion, a faster growth compared to 2.1 per cent increase in the imports on f.o.b basis to KSh 536.6 billion. Improved earnings from Tea, iron and steel, titanium ores and concentrates boosted the growth in exports while the decelerated growth in imports was due to decline in imports of industrial machinery; and iron and steel