Financial sector posts slowest growth in five years as lending pace slows

Tellers serve customers at a Post Bank branch in Nairobi. The rate cap law is partially to blame for slow credit growth to the private sector. [Photo:Wilberforce Okwiri]

The financial sector grew by 6.9 per cent in 2016, the slowest pace since 2012, according to the latest Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) data.

In the findings captured in the 2017 Economic Survey, an annual Government document that captures how public and private sector has performed over 12 months, credit from banks slowed down, putting brakes on the sector’s earnings.