Kenyatta rejects rate cap in memo to parliament

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta. The president has rejected the Finance Bill which kept rate caps. PHOTO | PSCU

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has declined to approve the Finance Bill and has instead asked MPs to scrap commercial lending rate caps that critics say have led to a credit squeeze.

Should MPs now agree with him and remove the cap, borrowers will be left at the mercy of banks on the one hand, while on the other, banks will have the freedom to price their loans depending on their risk assessment.