President Ruto: Dollar Exchange Rate to Go Below Sh120 in a Few Months

President Ruto has expressed confidence that the Kenyan shilling will soon strengthen against the US dollar, which is currently exchanging at Sh134.

Ruto said the Kenya Kwanza administration has put up measures to prevent the shilling from falling further to the dollar, adding that the exchange rate will go below Sh120 in the coming months.

The president cited the government’s move to purchase oil products using the Kenyan shilling as opposed to the dollar which costs the country at least Sh66.8 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 Sh120, maybe Sh115."

Ruto spoke 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 on Tuesday.

Last month, the government signed a deal with Saudi Aramco to import petroleum products on credit terms for a period of six months. 

The government-to-government deal will see diesel and kerosene being advanced to Kenya 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 percent of Kenya’s annual import bill.