Lending to the private sector by commercial banks grew by four percent in the year to June 2024 compared to 13.9 percent at the beginning of the year, the slowest pace in five years, hurt by the effect of a stronger shilling on foreign currency loans and reduced borrowing capacity by businesses and households due to higher interest rates.
This is according to data from the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which on Wednesday eased the base-lending rate by 25 basis points to 12.75 per cent, shows credit to the private sector grew by four percent, just slightly above 3.7 percent reported between September 2016 and November 2019.
Steven Umidha is a data and financial journalist with over 15 years of work experience in journalism and communication.
He specialises in finance and economics reporting as well as on the causes, impacts, and solutions of global warming, conservation, pollution and sustainability, often blending scientific literacy with journalist ethics, while involving policy analysis and multimedia storytelling across various platforms in highlighting issues from biodiversity loss to ecological justice.
Besides being the Founder of Financial Fortune Media, Umidha is a Co-founder of One Planet Agency (OPA) and has previously worked with the Standard Media Group, Mediamax Networks LTD, bird story agency, Business Journal Africa, and Financial Post among other outlets.
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