Kenyan President William Ruto, has expressed optimism that the dollar exchange rate will soon be below Ksh.120 from its current rate of Ksh.134.
According to President Ruto, the current gains the government is making toward bolstering the economy will massively contribute to assuaging the weak shilling.
Speaking on Tuesday, Ruto said that the drop will be aided by the move to purchase oil products using the Kenyan shilling as opposed to the dollar which costs the nation to cough out Ksh.66.8 Billion ($500 Million) monthly.
“Today as a country we can buy fuel in Kenyan shillings, something that many people never thought would be possible. From this month of April, all our fuel marketers will be able to buy our fuel products in Kenya shillings and it will reduce pressure on our dollars,” said Ruto.
“In fact in the next one month or so you will see the dollar exchange rate coming down in a very phenomenal way. In fact in my estimation, in the next couple of months, the exchange rate will come below Ksh.120, maybe Ksh.115.”
He was speaking during the release of the report on the evaluation of the performance of ministries, state corporations and tertiary institutions for the 2021/2022 financial year at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi.
The Head of State went on to commend public servants for their exemplary efforts to tame the current economic crisis with just a few months into office.
He vowed to hold every ministry and public servant accountable to ensure that they discharge their mandates in ensuring that Kenyans enjoy better services.
“I shall exercise my mandate to direct and coordinate the functions of these ministries and government departments, thereby ensuring that your effective performance satisfies the government’s contractual obligations with the people.”
On March 14, the government entered into an oil importation deal with Saudi Aramco, the world’s biggest oil company, that will see the state import petroleum products under a six months-credit and possibly lead to lower fuel prices.
The government-to-government (G to G) deal will see diesel and Dual-Purpose Kerosene (DPK) being advanced twice a month with the payment falling due six months after the deliveries.
Kenya hopes to relieve the dollar pressure by delaying the payments for petroleum products under the deal that will also see Emirates National Oil Company Group (ENOC) supply three cargoes of petrol every month.
Petroleum imports account for up to 30 per cent of Kenya’s annual import bill.
