NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s central bank held its benchmark lending rate at 13.0% on Wednesday, its monetary policy committee (MPC) said, to allow inflation to continue declining to the desired level.
The decision follows rate hikes in December and February that were aimed at stabilising the exchange rate and helping stubborn inflation to start falling.
“The MPC noted that its previous measures have lowered inflation, addressed the exchange rate pressures, and anchored inflationary expectations,” the committee said.
The Kenyan shilling has stabilised against the dollar after the government successfully raised $1.5 billion from international markets in February to partially buy back another bond that is maturing in June.
Inflation, which had remained on the higher side of the government’s preferred band of 2.5-7.5% for months, fell to 5.7% last month.
“The current monetary policy stance will ensure that overall inflation continues to decline towards the 5.0 percent mid-point of the target range,” the MPC said.
(Reporting by Duncan Miriri and George Obulutsa; Editing by Mark Potter)
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