Bags full of money [Courtesy]
Money stashed by Kenyans in hard currency accounts touched a record high of Sh798.7 billion in November last year, as jittery investors rushed to hedge their funds from being eroded by a weakening shilling.
This was an increase of Sh84.6 billion, or 12 per cent, compared to Sh714.1 billion that was in foreign deposit accounts in the same month in 2020, data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows.
Cash in foreign currency accounts has been increasing ever since the country recorded its first case of Covid-19 in March 2020, with the Kenyan shilling taking a beating as more dollars left the country.
Because of its stability, the dollar, like gold, is preferred by investors particularly the rich, in times of volatility such as in a pandemic.
The shilling has been on a downward spiral, weakening from a mean of 102.5 in March 2020 to 113.41 by end of trading yesterday.
November’s was the…
