kamau thugge : acceptance speech - african bankers awards 2024 acceptance speech by dr kamau thugge, governor of the central bank of kenya, at the african bankers awards 2024, nairobi, 28 may 2024. * * * as prepared for delivery excellencies distinguished guests ladies and gentlemen good evening. i am very pleased to join you on this auspicious occasion of the african banker awards, 2024. i greatly appreciate the invitation to this important event, and i am humbled and honoured to be awarded the african central bank governor of the year award. the award reflects the efforts of the board, monetary policy committee, the management, and staff of the central bank of kenya ( cbk ), to whom i am grateful. tonight's recognition affirms kenya's sound macroeconomic policies, for which i thank his excellency the president, dr. william samoei ruto, for providing overall leadership. i also greatly appreciate the institutions we have walked the journey with including the national treasury, the president's council of economic advisors, my banking sector colleagues, and our development partners. when i was appointed cbk governor in june 2023, the kenyan economy was reeling from shocks such as a surge in global energy and food prices, and climate factors that were exerting upward pressure on food prices. currencies in emerging and developing economies were on a free fall, due to the monetary policy tightening in advanced economies. capping all this, was our dysfunctional interbank foreign exchange market, with low liquidity and significant foreign payments backlog, which led to low investor confidence, especially for foreign investors. as a result of these shocks, our overall inflation rose sharply to peak at 9. 6 percent in october 2022, and remained elevated at around 8. 0 percent through may 2023. the shilling also depreciated rapidly, exerting upward pressure on domestic prices, and contributing to a significant increase in the kenya shilling value of foreign currency denominated debt and debt service. my priority, therefore, was to address the inflationary pressures and the rapid depreciation of the kenya shilling. i convened my first monetary policy committee ( mpc ) meeting on june 26, 2023, one week after my appointment as cbk governor, and the committee agreed to raise the central bank rate ( cbr ) by 100 basis pointsthe highest single rate increase since july 2015. this was followed by another sharp rate increase

programme as well as the 22 financial institutions that are represented by the pioneer caf participants. bis central bankers ’ speeches while acknowledging that the challenges facing agriculture are huge given the growing population, declining land sizes, climate change that has imposed severe costs on the sector, all of which compound the problem of financing agriculture, the challenges are not insurmountable, if we work together. ladies and gentlemen, it is now my pleasure and privilege to welcome the hon. minister for agriculture, dr. sally kosgei to give the key note address and officially launch the east african agricultural finance network ( eaafn ) and inaugurate the regional certificate program in agricultural finance. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches