The Central Bank of Kenya’s Monetary Policy Committee will hold its next rate-setting meeting on September 23, 2019.
It’s last meeting of July, the MPC held its benchmark lending rate at 9.00% for the sixth time in a row on the backdrop of inflation expectations being within the target range.
Market analysts from the Commercial Bank of Africa say the Central bank’s current policy stance may be sustained for the rest of this year thanks to low inflation. “Core inflation has remained sub 4.0% through 2019. While headline inflation rose to 6.3%, it is expected to remain within the statutory target band, potentially adjusting towards 5.0% in 4Q19 as food supply increase with the harvest season beginning in August.”
However, the policy predicate may be supported by the need to anchor growth as outlook suggests a potential for a negative output gap.