Kenya’s Central Bank held 8.309 billion dollars in foreign exchange reserves at the end of last week, a record high for a weekly close, the central bank data showed on Wednesday.
The bank said in its weekly bulletin that the reserves were enough to cover about five-and-half months worth of imports.
There was no immediate explanation for the high reserves, which were legally required to be at a minimum of four months worth of imports.
The bank struggled to build up reserves in the past due to low exports that was outstripped by imports of items like petrol.
The East African nation, which goes to the polls in August, also has a stand-by credit with the IMF of 1.5 billion dollars, which it can tap in case of unforeseen shocks. (NAN)