Requests in another currency hold more than you expect

If you raise a request in dollars against a budget in shillings, LEAT
holds more shillings than today's rate says. That is deliberate. This
page explains why and what happens to the difference.

What you will see

A one thousand dollar request against a shilling budget might hold three
million shillings when today's rate says two million, eight hundred and
thirty-five thousand.

Why

Because the money will be paid weeks from now, at a rate nobody knows.

Holding today's converted amount means the line is short every time the
shilling weakens, and it is short at the moment of payment — which is
the worst possible moment to find out.

What is in the extra

Three things, and the screen shows each one:

1. The allowance. A percentage on top of today's rate, to cover the rate moving against us before the payment happens.
2. The fee. What the bank and any correspondent bank will charge.
3. The buffer. Any further amount the finance team has approved for this kind of request.

What happens to it

When the payment settles, the actual cost is taken and everything left
over goes back to the budget line.

If the rate moved further than the allowance covered, the extra needs
fresh availability and an approval. It is not absorbed quietly.

Rates go stale

A hold uses a rate that was approved, from a named source, at a recorded
time. If the most recent approved rate is older than this deployment
allows, LEAT refuses rather than using it — because a rate nobody can
point at is the most consequential invented number in a grant system.