Central Bank Rate in Kenya
The Central Bank Rate (%, eop) ended 2024 at 11.25%, down from the 12.50% end-2024 value and down from the reading of 8.50% a decade earlier. For reference, the average interest rate in Sub-Saharan Africa was 14.31% at end-2024. For more information on interest rate, visit our dedicated page.
Kenya Interest Rate Chart
Note: This chart displays Policy Interest Rate (%) for Kenya from 2025 to 2017.
Source: Macrobond.
Kenya Interest Rate Data
2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Central Bank Rate (%, eop) | 7.00 | 7.00 | 8.75 | 12.50 | 11.25 |
Central Bank cuts rates by another 25 basis points in October
Monetary policy easing continues: At its meeting on 7 October, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) lowered its policy rate by 25 basis points to 9.25%. The reduction was the eighth consecutive, and means the policy rate is down 375 basis points since August 2024. The decision was in line with market expectations.
Inflation remained within target in September: The CBK’s decision to cut rates again was driven by inflation remaining below the midpoint of its 2.5–7.5% target range in September, and by its expectations that the downward trend will continue in the near term due to a stable exchange rate and subdued energy prices. This outlook gave the CBK room to support economic activity, with lower interest rates encouraging bank lending to the private sector; in Q2, GDP growth rose only marginally from Q1, suggesting that financing costs could be reduced further to aid the economy.
The CBK is set to cut rates further: The Central Bank did not provide specific forward guidance. All of our panelists see an additional 25 basis point cut in the next meeting of the year in December. A weaker-than-expected shilling is an upside risk.
Panelist insight: Goldman Sachs’ Andrew Matheny said: “Overall, though growth has marginally accelerated from 4.9% in Q1 2025 to 5.0%yoy in Q2, below target inflation and still restrictive monetary conditions suggest that the Bank will continue its cutting cycle.”
How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects Kenyan interest rate projections for the next ten years from a panel of 4 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable interest rate forecast available for Kenyan interest rate.
Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our Kenyan interest rate projections.
Want to get access to the full dataset of Kenyan interest rate forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.
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