Could the Cabinet Secretary – (i) State the volume of United States Dollar (USD) reserve …

Question

The Member for Kiambu (Hon. Machua Waithaka, MP) to ask the Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning: - Could the Cabinet Secretary – (i) State the volume of United States Dollar (USD) reserve held by the Central Bank of Kenya and each of the commercial banks in the country and confirm whether the high volume of USD believably being hoarded by commercial banks accounts for the spiralling exchange rate that has hit an all-time high? (ii) Explain why the rate of exchange for purchasing the USD from forex bureaus and commercial banks is as high as Ksh. 141 and Ksh 146 per unit respectively, yet the indicative exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Kenya is Ksh. 129.52 per unit, translating to a difference of almost Kshs. 15 per unit against the CBK rate? (iii) What measures has the Ministry put in place to resolve the shortage in dollar supply, lower the exchange rate, cushion importers from the loss of money due to the high dollar exchange rate and to avoid the proliferation of black money exchange markets?