Kenya’s National Treasury is seeking to reduce the dominance of banks in government securities investments by opening up the market to more non-bank financial institutions. “The National Treasury continues to spearhead key reforms to deepen the domestic debt market and diversify the investor base,” it says. “The domestic debt market continues to diversify the investor base in government securities by implementing a market engagement programme, including the monthly Bond Market Forum with the domestic institutional investors and stakeholders,” Treasury says. NCBA group, Absa Bank Kenya and Standard Chartered Bank Kenya saw their interest income on government securities decline by Ksh250 million ($1.93 million), Ksh410 million ($3.17 million) and Ksh550 million ($4.26 million) respectively. In July this year, global rating agency Moody’s downgraded the credit rating of KCB Bank Kenya, Co-operative Bank Kenya and Equity Bank Kenya, largely due to their increased sovereign exposure in the form of securities issued by a government with a weakened credit profile.

Source: Daily Nation October 16, 2024 10:48 UTC