NAIROBI, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) on Tuesday raised its benchmark lending rate to 13 percent from 12.50 percent amid rising inflation.
Kamau Thugge, the CBK governor, who chaired the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, noted that the overall inflation has remained sticky in the upper bound of the target range.
"The committee further observed that all key components of inflation - fuel, food, and non-food non-fuel (NFNF) - had increased in January," Thugge said in a statement released in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya.
The MPC also noted the continued, albeit reduced, pressures on the exchange rate and therefore concluded that further action was needed to stabilize prices.
Thugge added that the increase in the benchmark rate will ensure that inflationary expectations remain anchored while setting inflation on a firm downward path towards the 5.0 percent mid-point of the target range, as well as addressing residual pressures on the exchange rate.
