•Personal and household loans amounting to Sh333.0 billion (39.6 per cent of the gross loans to this sector) have also had their repayment period extended.
•Strong credit growth has been observed in manufacturing , transport and communications , agriculture, , real estate and consumer durables. Customers queue inside a KCB branch in Nairobi. /FILE Banks in the country have restructured loans worth Sh1.63 trillion in the last 10 months, giving households and the private sector the much needed relief during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is more than half (54.2 per cent) of the total banking sector loan book of Sh3 trillion.
Lending to private sector has also remained stable growing 8.4 per cent in the 12 months to December 2020, as demand recovered with the improved economic activity.
The restructured loans hit a new high in December from Sh1.38 trillion in October (46.5 per cent of the then total banking sector loan book of Sh2.97 trillion).
This was eight months after the Central Bank of Kenya announced emergency measures to provide relief to borrowers, on March 18.
Growth in private sector credit stood at 7.7 per cent in October last year.
The private sector accounts for the lion share of the current restructured loans standing at just above Sh1.29 trillion.
Personal and household loans amounting to Sh333.0 billion (39.6 per cent of the gross loans to this sector) have also had their repayment period extended, Central Bank of Kenya data shows.
Trade accounts for the biggest share of restructured loans (21.3 per cent), followed by manufacturing (20.4 per cent), real estate (15.4 per cent) and agriculture (12.4 per cent).
“These measures have continued to provide the intended relief to borrowers,” CBK governor Patrick Njoroge notes, even as he express optimism of a recovering economy this year from last year’s ravages by the pandemic.Of the Sh35.2 billion that was released by the lowering of the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) in March, Sh32.6 billion (92.7 per cent) has been used to support lending, especially to the tourism, trade and transport and communication, real estate, manufacturing and agriculture sectors.Strong credit growth has been observed in manufacturing (12 per cent), transport and communications (13.6 per cent), agriculture (15.3 per cent), real estate (8.7 per cent) and consumer durables (18.1 per cent).Last week, CBK’s Monetary Policy Committee retained its base lending rate at seven per cent for the sixth consecutive time on accommodative policy stance and stable inflation, as it sought to ensure cheaper […]