Xinhua:
Kenya’s trade deficit widened marginally year-on-year to September as exports and receipts from tourism rose, the National Treasury said on Thursday in an economic report.
The deficit stood at 740 billion shillings (about 6.02 billion U.S. dollars), an equivalent of 5.4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in September, from 5.73 billion dollars or 5.2 percent of GDP in September 2021, the Treasury in its quarterly economic and budgetary review report.
“Net receipts on the services account improved by 1.51 billion dollars to 1.86 billion dollars in September. This was mainly on account of an increase in receipts from transportation and tourism as international travel continues to improve,” said the Treasury.
During the period in review, exports similarly grew by 14 percent to 7.41 billion dollars, up from 6.5 billion dollars in September 2021 primarily driven by improved receipts from tea and manufactured goods despite a decline in receipts from horticulture, the Treasury said.
The increase in receipts from tea exports reflected improved prices attributed to demand from traditional markets, added the Treasury.
On the other hand, imports increased by 18 percent to 19.9 billion dollars in the year to September mainly due to increases in shipments of oil and other intermediate goods, according to the Treasury.