CATEGORY: OBG CEO Surveys
The year 2017 was a challenging one for Kenya’s economy, which reported a GDP growth rate of 4.9% – its lowest since 2013 – according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. Dropping from 5.9% in 2016, the slowdown of GDP growth can be attributed to a number of factors, including protracted elections, severe droughts, as well as a deterioration of credit growth in the private sector.
While numerous factors have contributed to Kenya’s declining GDP expansion rate, one of the main reasons is the slowdown in private sector credit growth as a result of the interest rate cap introduced in 2016. In the inaugural OBG Business Barometer: Kenya CEO Survey, 89% of CEOs say that the newly imposed interest
rate cap has made it more difficult or much more difficult to access credit. Despite this, overall sentiment about Kenya’s economic outlook remains positive, with 75% of respondents saying that it is likely or very likely that their company will make a significant investment within the next 12 months.
Papua New Guinea’s chairmanship of APEC in 2018 comes at a time when the Pacific Island nation is still grappling with a foreign exchange shortage and high public debt, as well as persistent problems with law and order.