NAIROBI, Sept 29 (NNN-KBC) — More than four million Kenyans blacklisted by the Credit Reference Bureaus (CRB) will be pardoned beginning Nov 1, 2022.
Speaking during the announcement by Safaricom, KCB Group and NCBA Group that they will reduce fuliza fees by 50pc effective Oct 1, 2022, President William Ruto said the move to delist Kenyans from bad borrowers books is aimed at allowing more Kenyans to service their existing loans and have access to more loans.
CRBs have come under sharp criticism from different quarters in the past for being too quick to blacklist customers who encounter challenges servicing their loans.
Though official statistics are unavailable, experts believe there are more than 6 million Kenyans in the bad books of the three CRBs in the country.
During his swearing-in, President William Ruto said, his administration will structure regulations governing the operations of the Bureaus to make them more flexible.
The National Treasury, commercial banks, and the Credit Reference Bureaus have been directed to develop modalities to pardon the affected Kenyans.
Ruto says the government supports credit listings, but the model in use locks out needy Kenyans from accessing essential financial services when they are locked out.
Speaking during an event by Safaricom to review lending rates for Fuliza customers, Ruto has also announced that, the government is in the process of rolling out the Hustlers Fund where SMEs will borrow at single digit rate. — NNN-KBC
