CBK to hold its rate-setting meeting on July 29

By Steve Umidha

The Central Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will hold its next rate-setting meeting on July 29, the banking regulator said yesterday, with the base lending rate likely to be unchanged at 7 per cent.

At its last meeting in June, the bank left its benchmark lending rate unchanged for the second time in two months at 7 per cent.

CBK’s Governor Patrick Njoroge, who chairs the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meetings said last month that policy measures that had been deployed since March to mitigate the adverse economic effects and financial disruptions had necessitated the move.

“The MPC will continue to closely monitor the impact of the policy measures so far, as well as developments in the global and domestic economy, and stand ready to take additional measures as necessary” Njoroge said in the last meeting.

Global economic outlook for 2020 has deteriorated further since the outbreak and had remained highly uncertain with the gross domestic product (GDP) across advanced economies expected to contract more sharply in the second quarter than had been projected in April, following severe disruptions to trade and supply chains and the collapse in global travel.