East African Community (EAC) central bank governors have confirmed steady progress towards the introduction of a single regional currency, saying the bloc remains on course to meet its 2031 target despite ongoing implementation challenges.

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The update followed a meeting of the Monetary Affairs Committee on July 24, where governors reviewed the revised roadmap for establishing the East African Monetary Union (EAMU).

According to the governors, central banks across the region have made significant progress in modernising and harmonising their monetary policy frameworks while strengthening data compilation, analytical capacity, and risk management systems.

They also said member states have strengthened policy coordination through increased information sharing and joint research, key milestones in preparations for a common regional currency, according to documents seen by Kenyans.co.ke .

📌 What You Need to Know

At the same time, the regional Central banks are also promoting the East African Payment System to boost regional trade, while investing heavily in building human capital.

Despite the progress, the governors acknowledged that no EAC partner state has yet met all four primary macroeconomic convergence criteria required for the monetary union.

“Nonetheless, the meeting noted that although Partner States have undertaken significant macroeconomic reforms and implemented policies to meet the convergence criteria, the progress has remained uneven, with no Partner State having attained all four primary convergence criteria,” the Committee stated.

The governors noted that balancing macroeconomic stability with the need to finance critical infrastructure projects remains a major challenge for many EAC partner states.

According to the committee, the task has been made even more difficult by a volatile global economic environment and the ripple effects of ongoing geopolitical conflicts, including the conflict in the Middle East.

To strengthen resilience, the governors urged partner states to diversify their foreign exchange reserves through domestic gold purchases and adopt measures to attract higher remittance inflows.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke