President William Ruto has warned businesspeople hoarding dollars in Kenya that they are at risk of incurring huge losses.
Speaking during the listing of Laptrust Imara (REIT) at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday, Ruto said his government has put in place measures that will ensure that demand for foreign currency will lessen in the coming weeks.
One of these measures, Ruto said, is a deal that will allow oil importers to purchase the commodity using shillings instead of dollars.
“We just concluded a market-driven arrangement in our fuel sector that will see Kenya access all our fuel needs on a deferred six-month credit that will eliminate a demand of USD 500 million dollars every month from this market,” Ruto said.
“I am giving you free advice that those of you who are hoarding dollars you shortly might go into losses. You better do what you must do because this market is going to be different in a couple of weeks.”
Ruto also disclosed that his administration is engaging with the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to reinstate the interchange exchange market so as to further address the dollar crisis.
“I am happy that the players in that sector including our banks are coming forward and they are participating and working with the Central Bank so that we can again take charge of our market so that it is not distorted by brokers,” said President Ruto.
“We have done what we must do as the government to ensure that we ease the burden on people who want to realize their returns in dollars.”
