Kenya gets Sh168bn economy boost on improved credit access

Increased access to finance through digital revolution especially by the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has pushed economic growth by 0.45 percentage points annually, equivalent to an additional Sh168 billion in 10 years.

Access to credit has also eased due to a 65 per cent fall in transaction costs enabled by digital technology in the past decade, according to a new report authored by International Monetary Fund (IMF) resident representative Armando Morales, former Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Njuguna Ndung’u, and CBK-owned Kenya School of Monetary Studies research head Lydia Ndirangu.