East African central banks are taking varying interest rate positions to protect fragile economies battered by inflation, depreciating currencies and global supply disruptions, signalling the likely end to a synchronised monetary policy regime, which banking regulators worldwide have lately been using to control the rising prices of goods and services.
This week, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) surprised the market with a 50-basis-point increase in the policy rate to 13 percent, from 12.5 percent, the largest rate hike in 12 years, setting the stage for more expensive loans.
