FILE PHOTO | NMG
Kenya’s trade deficit narrowed by Sh33.6 billion in the four months of the year compared to a similar period in 2019, helped by a lower import bill and an uptick in export earnings.
Data from the Central Bank of Kenya shows that the country imported goods worth Sh556.2 billion in the four months to April 2020, a decline of Sh17.4 billion from a year earlier, while export earnings rose by Sh16.2 billion to hit Sh221.9 billion in the four months.
The import bill has largely come down due to lower fuel costs in the period following a steep decline in global crude prices as demand fell due to the Covid-19 restrictions in many economies.
On the export side, while volumes have been hurt by the global trade disruption, higher prices, especially on tea, have helped moderate some of the losses.
The CBK data shows that tea export earnings rose to Sh47.4 billion in the four months to April, from Sh40 billion in the similar period last year.
