Saving Money in Kenya: Kenyan households and businesses saved the largest amount of money over the last one decade in 2020. This is according to a report from the Central Bank of Kenya. According to the report, Kenyans saved Sh. 483.3 billion to push gross deposits in January to Sh. 4.03 trillion. This represented a 12 per cent jump from Sh. 3.55 trillion that was recorded in 2019.
“This means that Kenyan households and businesses were on average adding Sh. 1.32 billion daily on their deposits, up from Sh. 61.5 million that was being recorded in the pre-coronavirus year. The amassed savings came on the back of consumers tightening their spending in an environment of rising uncertainty over stability of jobs and other income streams,” a report that appeared in the Business Daily on the CBK data said.
The report said that many businesses in sectors such as transport and communication, manufacturing, hospitality and tourism shut or scaled down their activities. This resulted in reduced spending. “Activities such as schooling were also disrupted, forcing parents to hold the money in banks,” the report said.
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These savings were not so far off the global mark. According to credit rating agency Moody’s, consumers around the world had saved an additional Sh. 584 trillion by March this year. The rating agency attributed this growth in savings to cautious spending and support from government stimulus schemes.
“Low returns from a bearish stock market and a slump in real estate forced many investors to keep cash in banks and tap interest returns that stood at 6.46 percent in February,” the report in the Business Daily said.
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