CBK Announces Bank Rates For Next Two Months
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on Wednesday, April 3, retained the Central Bank Rate (CBR) at 13 per cent for the months of April and May.
CBK in a statement released after the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) revealed that the CBR was retained due to the efficiency of the current monetary policy stance.
It was revealed that there was no need to raise the CBR at the moment since previous measures had set the country towards a path of economic recovery.
This was through addressing the exchange rate pressures as well as anchoring inflationary expectations.
“The Committee further noted that overall inflation is expected to continue declining in the near term, supported by lower food and fuel prices, and pass-through effects of the recent exchange rate appreciation,” a statement from CBK read in part.
“Therefore, the MPC concluded that the current monetary policy stance will ensure that overall inflation continues to decline towards the 5.0 per cent mid-point of the target range, and thus decided to retain the Central Bank Rate (CBR) at 13.00 per cent.”
In the next 60 days, CBK will closely monitor the impact of the policy measures as well as developments in the global and domestic economy.
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On the global economy, CBK noted that there was steady growth which was largely influenced by stronger-than-expected growth in the United States.
The MPC was on the other hand wary of unrest in different parts of the world especially a potential escalation of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Europe.
On inflation, the MPC noted that it had moderated globally with food inflation continuing to decline due to improved supply of key food items, particularly cereals and edible oils.
“Kenya’s overall inflation declined further to 5.7 per cent in March 2024 from 6.3 per cent in February, driven by lower food and fuel inflation,” CBK spoke of the local economy.
It was noted that Kenya continued to post a strong economic performance stemming from increased positive activity in the agriculture and service sectors.
“The economy is expected to remain strong in 2024, supported by the resilient services sector, robust performance of the agriculture sector, continued implementation of Government measures to boost economic activity across priority sectors in line with the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), and improved global growth outlook,” the MPC stated.
CBK Announces Bank Rates For Next Two Months