National Treasury CS, John Mbadi during a presser on e-Procurement in Nairobi
Yields on Kenya’s Eurobonds decreased by 28.19 per cent basis points on average in the week the global credit ratings agency S&P upgraded Kenya's long-term sovereign credit rating to 'B' from 'B-’.
The upgrade is a major thumbs-up to Kenya’s economy and creditworthiness in the global financial market after persistent downgrades following Kenya’s struggle to clear its inaugural Eurobond in 2024.
The most notable shift came from the $1 billion 2018 Eurobond, whose yield fell to 6.86 per cent from 7.42 per cent on August 22, a decline of 0.56 percentage points.
The credit rating firm pegged the positive rating on reduced near-term external liquidity risks.
On Thursday last week, the National Treasury boss, John Mbadi, told the Star that robust export earnings and diaspora remittances have bolstered Kenya's foreign exchange reserves, helping ease pressures related to high external imbalances.
Bond turnover in the domestic secondary market increased by 11 per cent during the week to Sh66 billion from Sh59.3 billion the previous week.
The exchequer, through the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), returned to the market, seeking Sh60 billion for budgetary support, a week after netting close to Sh180 billion from a tap sale from an infrastructure bond release.
Experts are divided on what is motivating investors to pile funds in state securities despite declining yields, with some citing guaranteed returns due to firm security, while others cite volatility in the private securities and market funds.
The Treasury bill auction of August 28 received bids totaling Sh32 billion against an advertised amount of Sh24 billion, representing a performance of 133.5 per cent. Interest rates on the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day Treasury bills remained stable.
At the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE), the NASI, NSE 25 and NSE 20 share price indices increased by 1.88 per cent, 1.53 per cent and 3.89 per cent, respectively, during the week ending August 28.
Market capitalisation and total shares traded also increased by 1.88 per cent and 11.5 per cent, respectively, while equity turnover decreased by 25.26 per cent.
During the week, NCBA Group is the 26th most traded stock on the Nairobi Securities Exchange over the past three months, announced an interim dividend of Sh2.50 per share after posting Sh11.1 billion in net earnings for the first six months of the year.
This represented a 12.6 per cent increase compared to Sh9.8 billion reported during a similar period in 2024.
The results saw the lender’s share price at the Nairobi bourse surge by close to two per cent, closing the week at Sh64.25.
NCBA traded a total volume of 5.22 million shares—in 2,305 deals—valued at Sh319 million over the period, with an average of 82,803 traded shares per session. A volume high of 559,400 was achieved on June 4.
