Credit to the private sector decelerated in October after rising to a four-month high in the previous month.
Credit to the private sector by deposit-taking corporations grew by 7.3 per cent on the year to Shs22.9bn ($6.1bn) in October, down from an expansion of 8.7 per cent in the previous month.
Read more: Lending to private sector accelerated to four-month high in September, BoU data shows
Lending to the private sector in the first ten months of the year was 8.5 per cent higher than in the same period last year, compared with 9.9 per cent in 2022.
Commercial bank loans to the private sector grew by 6.1 per cent to Shs20.2bn, down from 7.7 per cent in September but faster than the 5.8 per cent growth recorded in August.
On the other hand, commercial banks’ claims on the central government, which include debt securities and loans, rose 24.3 per cent year on year to Shs15.3bn, the fastest growth rate in 26 months. The average annual growth rate of commercial banks’ claims on the central government in the ten months to October was 17.3 per cent, compared with an average growth rate of 7.4 per cent for loans to the private sector.
($1 = Shs3779.04 on 31 October)
