Kenya’s central bank holds rate at 11.5%

Kenya’s central bank held its benchmark lending rate at 11.50 percent on Tuesday, its Monetary Policy Committee said, in line with the market’s expectations.

The committee said in a statement the measures it had taken in previous sittings had helped lower inflation towards its target of 5 percent.

But it warned that continued volatility in global financial markets remained a risk to the inflation outlook.

“Its (turbulence in global markets) impact on the exchange rate should be monitored,” the committee said in a statement.

Thirteen of 15 analysts polled by Reuters had forecast that the bank would keep its benchmark lending rate at 11.50 percent.