Author: David Indeje

Banking service group, I&M Holdings Plc Wednesday said it will pay a dividend of Ksh 2.25 per share plus 1 bonus share for every 1 held to its shareholders for the financial year ended December 31, 2020. The Nairobi Securities Exchange lender said its profit after tax declined by 21 per cent to Ksh 8.41 billion from Ksh 10.77 billion in 2019 from its Full Year 2020 financial results. Its revenue from interest income and non-interest income increased by 1.3 per cent to KSh19.4 billion compared to KSh19.2 billion at the end of 2019. Customer deposits grew by 14 per…

Kenya is set to tap into the International Monetary Fund (IMF) financing programme to support its COVID-19 response and budget support. The Central Bank of Kenya expressed optimism that the Ksh 34.5 billion will be approved by the IMF Board next week with expectations it will be discussed on Friday, April 2. CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge said the loan represents the first batch of a $2.4 billion 38-month program. “We expect this will be approved on Friday and the consequential disbursement will follow early next week,” CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge said in a post-Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to the media…

Safaricom has rolled out a one-stop-shop that allows users to stop unsolicited messages via USSD Code *456*9*5#. This is in response to its over 30 million customers who found complex to stop spamming messages. Initially, users had to send a text for each spam text. “Through this product, we are now putting control to the customers’ hands,” says Benard Koech, Manager, Digital VAS Revenue & Content  Partner Management, Safaricom adding that there is no applicable cost to the service. Now, to stop all SMS spamming will be done in two easy steps: Dial *456*9*5# Option 2 you will find “STOP…

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK)  says the fresh coronavirus containment measures are “selective” with no substantial impact on the economy. “However, we do not know the duration,” said Dr Patrick Njoroge, CBK Governor at a media briefing post MPC meeting held Monday maintaining the CBR at 7.0% through Q2. “We need to give it time to understand. Things are still unclear on  what exactly the impact is,” Dr Njoroge said adding that “There are a lot of areas that have been untouched by the containment measures.” On Friday, President Uhuru Kenyatta restricted travel in the capital Nairobi and the…

Central Bank projects current account deficit at 5.2 per cent of GDP in 2021 Kenya’s current account deficit narrowed to 4.6 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the 12 months to February 2021,  attributed to savings from oil imports and resilient earnings from exports and remittances.  This was a marginal improvement of one percentage point from November’s deficit of 4.7 per cent. “Provisional data on the balance of payments shows that the current account deficit narrowed to 4.6 per cent of GDP in the 12 months to February 2021 compared to 5.8 per cent of GDP in the…

Kenya’s annual inflation rate in March would accelerate further on the back of higher oil prices according to Market Analysts, but the Central Bank maintains it is well anchored. NCBA Market Research projects that inflation could hit 6.20% in March from 5.80% a month before. “However, weak demand should limit the risk of target overshoots. Demand could soften further as new restrictions cool consumer spending,” they note in their Weekly Fixed Income Report dated 26 March 2020. Cytonn Investments similarly expects an increase in the transport and fuel index which carries a weighting of 8.7% in the total consumer price…