Growth in lending by banks to the private sector slowed to a 22-year low of 0.4 percent in September, piling pressure on the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to lower its base rate despite concerns by the International Monetary fund that this could trigger fresh inflationary pressure.
The expansion in loans to households and businesses has been slowing down for nine consecutive months to a level last seen in September 2003 (-0.6 percent), threatening growth of the economy.
