Author: David Indeje

Kenya’s National Treasury on Thursday is expected to table an estimated Ksh.3.6 trillion budget for the year 2021-22. Within the overall budget estimates, the national government will be allocated Ksh 1.96Tn, Consolidated Fund Services at Ksh 1.33Tn and equitable revenue share to counties at Ksh 370.0Bn.  According to Genghis Capital, the country’s total revenue in the next fiscal year is expected at Ksh 2.04Tn; of which ordinary revenue is expected at Ksh 1.78Tn and Appropriationsin-Aid (AiA) expected at Ksh 263.0Bn.  Grants are expected at Ksh 62.0Bn, bringing revenue and grants to Ksh2.10Tn.  “With total spending at Ksh  3.66Tn, this translates…

China’s Huawei Technologies Wednesday announced the launch of its Harmony operating system (HarmonyOS) for smartphones.  This technically means Huawei is moving away from Android systems. Speaking at the launch, Huawei Consumer Business Group (CBG) CEO Richard Yu said HarmonyOS can support a wide range of devices.  “It can be integrated with Huawei Vision, smartwatches, tablets, smartphones and head units. More importantly, it can be introduced to IOT devices, such as cameras, household appliances, power sockets and lamps.” Huawei announced plans for HarmonyOS in August 2019 following the blacklisting of Huawei by the Trump administration, amid the China and US trade…

Family Bank has received approval from Capital Markets Authority (CMA) to raise up to KSh8 billion through a multi-currency Medium Term Note. The lender says the funds raised will help to strengthen its capital base to support lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and invest in technology infrastructure.  The bank targets to raise KSh4 billion in its first tranche, with the balance to be raised within the next five years in various tranches or series.  “We are positioning the bank for the second phase of growth as per our 2020– 2024 strategy, anchored on growth and stability of the…

The inflation rate measured by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics rose to 5.87 per cent in May, compared to the 5.76 per cent recorded in April. According to the statistics body, the spike in the cost of living is greatly attributable to fuel costs. However, fuel prices have remained stable in the last two months as the prices for diesel and kerosene remained unchanged for the period mid-March to mid-June 2021, according to the monthly price releases by the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA). During the review period, the transport index marked a 0.69 per cent increase after…

KCB Group on Wednesday reported a flat 1.8 per cent growth in first-quarter net profit at KSh 6.37 billion, compared with KSh 6.26 billion in the corresponding quarter last year. The lender’s Non-interest income declined 20 per cent to KSh6.3 billion from KSh7.8 billion. “Overall performance was largely impacted by lower non-interest income due to subdued digital lending on reduced disbursements and lower customer transactions,” chief executive Joshua Oigara said in a statement.

Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on Wednesday decided to leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 7 per cent maintaining that “the current accommodative monetary policy stance remains appropriate”. However, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)  will closely monitor the impact of the policy measures, as well as developments in the global and domestic economy, and stands ready to take additional measures as necessary to support the economy hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Committee noted that inflation expectations remained well anchored within the target range, and the economy continued to operate below its potential level,” Dr. Patrick Njoroge, chairman of…