By Elizabeth ADENUGA
Kenya’s central bank monetary policy committee on Monday held its benchmark lending rate at 9.0 per cent.
The committee said in Nairobi that the retention was because inflation was still within the target range.
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 6 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.
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.” —- Reuters
