Banks ditch hustlers for Treasury bonds amid worsening debt crisis

Banks have continued to allocate a growing share of their balance sheets to non-credit assets, particularly government securities. [File, Standard]

Commercial banks are turning their backs on small businesses and households, pouring record amounts of cash into government securities instead, as President William Ruto's borrowing binge sucks up available credit and crowds out the private sector, a new industry report shows.

The banking sector's total assets expanded by 10.3 per cent to Sh8.35 trillion in 2025, but the bulk of that growth came not from lending to entrepreneurs and families, the "hustlers" Ruto has championed, but from buying government debt.