Key questions:
- The Central Bank of Kenya left rates unchanged at its latest monetary policy committee meeting. What were the significant considerations leading up to this decision?
- How will this decision affect the Kenyan economy in the near term?
The Central Bank of Kenya held rates steady for the second consecutive month at 10.5% in its latest meeting on October 3, 2023.
Since 2022, when the global monetary policy tightening cycle began on the back of the Russia-Ukraine war, the CBK has raised rates five times by 350 basis points (bps) cumulatively. This is far lower than Sub-Saharan African peers like Nigeria (725 bps) and Ghana (1,550 bps) and advanced economies like the US (500 bps).
While this is largely a function of the uniqueness of each economy (inflation and macroeconomic stability), it still indicates that Kenya is playing catch-up in the new era of high global interest rates. And investors will
