Mr. Kinyua's career began in 1978 as an assistant lecturer at the University of Nairobi. He joined the Central Bank of Kenya in 1980 as an Economist and rose to the rank of Director of Research. Between 1985 and 1990, he worked as an economist with the International Monetary Fund before returning back to the Central Bank of Kenya.
He was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury in June 1995, a position he held until July 1999 when he rejoined the Central Bank of Kenya as Director of Financial Markets. He was appointed the Chief Economist of the Central Bank of Kenya in October 2000.
Mr. Kinyua was appointed as the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance in September 2002, a position he held until January 2003 when he was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Planning and National Development.
In July 2003, he was appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture where he served until July 2004 when he was reappointed Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Finance. Mr. Kinyua has served on several boards of State Corporations. He is a member of the Programme Committee of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and Alternate Governor, World Bank Board of Governors.
He holds a BA and MA in Economics from the University of Nairobi.