Kenya’s central bank held its benchmark
lending rate at nine per cent on Monday, the bank’s monetary policy
committee said, saying inflation was anchored within the target range.
Policymakers said the decision, the third hold in a row since September,
was also supported by their view that the
economy was “operating close
to its potential”, they said. According to Reuters, year-on-year
inflation was 5.7 per cent last month, well within the government’s
preferred band of 2.5-7.5 per cent.
Economic growth accelerated to six per
cent in the third quarter of last year, up from 4.7 per cent a year
earlier. The committee, however, warned of the potential for higher
volatility in the global financial markets this year, mainly due to
slowing global economic growth, Brexit and a trade war between the U.S.
and China.
The Kenyan shilling was firm against the
dollar on Monday due to hard currency inflows from diaspora remittances
and thin oil importer demand ahead of a central bank rate meeting.
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