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Kenyans living and working abroad have continued to send more cash home, cementing their position as the country's highest source of foreign income ahead of coffee and tea.
Latest data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) shows that remittances from Kenyans in foreign countries increased by 51.8 per cent in the first five months of 2018 compared to a similar period in 2017.
Diaspora inflows in the January-May period hit $1.112 billion (Sh112.21 billion) up from $732.70 million (Sh73.92 billion) in the same period the previous year, CBK records indicate.
The inflows in May reached a new monthly record of $253.73 million (Sh25.60 billion), a 57.11 per cent jump from a year earlier. This could party been occasioned by a rush to beat the initial June 30th deadline tax amnesty for cash stashed in oversea accounts.
Last month, tax consultants at audit firm PKF reported a sudden growth in clients seeking to file and return wealth hidden abroad to enjoy the tax pardon.
“In the last two to three months we have seen significant uptake of that amnesty and we think it is at a point where it is even overwhelming for some of us to be able to accomplish the filing and repatriate those incomes,” PKF tax partner Michael Mburugu said on June 4.
“What we have seen is that a lot of money has been repatriated and there are many people waiting to do so. I cannot place a number to it, but generally it is running into billions of shillings.”
The amnesty was announced by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich in the Finance Act 2016. Treasury has since extended the deadline by a year to June 2019, citing low uptake.
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Am I missing something, anything positive you have ever posted? The World, through your eyes, must be a very sad place.
Kwani wewe ni Nani Mmojawao wa kuSWINDLE Diasporans? Stay on your Sweat. Anyway: Read my Script again; and with All your Getting (from it), get UNDERSTANDING. Not SADNESS. And if you're Sad: Go see a Counsellor.
You just proved my point. Thanks.
KShs. 112,000,000,000÷100
= $1,120,000,000 (1.12 Billion Dollars). Wow!!!
Heko wana Diaspora!
Even when the country you love denies you a voice, denies you the right to vote... you still remain faithful.... even when your family members steal from you and demean the madoubles you do... you still remain faithful... even when gok wants to go after your jugulars, you remain faithfull. You Rock!
Diasporans should have been the 43rd tribe, not wahindi na sikhs who just hongana for illegal imports and then ship the loot out of the country without giving a damn about our beloved country.
JustMe I like vyenye unawaKEJELIngi wa MAJUU.
Fake news😂🤣🤣😁😁 with all the corruption😂😂😂! Quit lying.
I stand to be corrected but no one sends money to help Kenya.People just send money to their loved ones.I can never contribute even a cent to Kenya's useless,corrupt/devilish govt.You are forced to send money to your parents(who will never beg you)for their upkeep but not to thieves.They just get a chance to it through taxation of everything including medicine.
..that is what is called 'nation building'....sio kuchukua jembe kwenda kujenga nchi, hapana......money spent = money in circulation. And what about helping the govt with easy foreign currency.
Will Kenya Die if DIASPORANS don't send this Money? Nope! Is this Money helping Kenya Fight Corruption? Nope!! Is this Money making Diasporans HAPPIER? Of course not!!! My point is: EXCEPT for UNAVOIDABLE Family Support, just Stop sending your Money here UNNECESSARILY (for Lack of a Better word). This country KENYA is very Corrupt (from Siblings, Parents, Relatives, Friends and the so-called Go-betweens). So Keep your Money (if you can) or BRING it Yourselves. NOTE: Or if OBLIGATED to send the Money: Send it into your PERSONAL Bank Account; your Own Account. Not even in your Spouse's Account or Joint Account. Stop being BILKED by this Crazy CORRUPT Society. Anyway Good Luck! and I wish you the Best (and Stress free life). I know you guys work so Hard wherever you're there in MAAJUU. And this is because: It BREAKS my Heart to See or Hear you Guys getting Swindled just like by some Lazy "BASTARDS" in this Country ran by Illegal Presidents beginning with Moi's Second Term (Except for Kibaki's 1st Term after Raila said "Kibaki Tosha"). Some DIADPORANS have Committed or Threatened to Commit SUICIDE in this CORRUPT Country called Kenya (when they Come to Empty Banks Wccounts, Empty Construction Projects, or worse still: "Houses or Plots" in Pictures only. And some have Plunged into Severe Economic DEPRESSIONS but in MENTAL or PSYCHOLOGICAL Depression too. It has been SEVERELY bad in some DIASPORAN's Cases I am telling you.