Retired Kisii Governor James Ongwae has attributed the historic gain of the Kenya shilling against the US dollar to President William Ruto’s sound leadership.
Ongwae who is the chairperson of the Universal Service Advisory Council said the economy is working under Ruto’s stewardship and that better things lie ahead.
“The dropping of the dollar value is a good signal of a working economy. Better things lie ahead under the stewardship of president William Ruto,’’ he posted on his X account.
Ongwae was among the key opposition figures who were the first ones to disembark from Azimio and back President Ruto’s administration immediately after the 2022 general election
The former governor said on Thursday that the president had steered the country out of economic storms with Kenyans expected to start reaping the fruits of his efforts.
The Azimio coalition had blamed President Ruto’s economic interventions when the shilling was sliding against the dollar.
The Kenyan shilling posted its strongest intra-day gain against the US dollar in 12 years on Wednesday.
The dramatic gain pushed the local unit to its strongest level since November last year while wiping out all the losses this year.
Forex bureaus were selling the dollar at between Sh152 and Sh157.
On Tuesday, the CBK had quoted the local unit at Sh156.7 against the US dollar.
The record appreciation of the greenback is set to lower import costs in local currency terms as importers are required to part with less shillings for the same volume of goods ordered.
For the government, a stronger shilling will lower debt service costs with the National Treasury equating the movement of the currency by a single unit to impact debt service costs by Sh40 billion.
With the shilling gaining by Sh3.62 against the US dollar in the week to Tuesday, Kenya’s debt service costs have been trimmed by Sh144.8 billion in just seven days.
Holders and earners in US dollars have nevertheless realised paper losses with holdings/earnings of $10,000 for instance falling from Sh1.6 million to Sh1.5 million over the same period representing paper losses of Sh100,000