Covid-19 Economic Stimulus

The Central Bank of Kenya has announced that borrowers with loans under KSH5 million will not be blacklisted at the Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs) a bid to cushion businesses recovering from Covid-19 disruptions.

“The CBK announces the suspension for a period of twelve months, of the listing of negative credit information for borrowers with loans below Sh5 million, whose loans were performing previously, but have become non-performing from October 1, 2021,” CBK announced on Monday.

“Consequently, loans below Sh5 million that fall in arrears from October 1, 2021, to September 30, 2022, will not lead to the “blacklisting” of the borrower on the Credit Reference Bureaus (CRBs).”

Those who had already been blacklisted will be dropped from the loan defaulters list.

The move by CBK to suspend CRB listing on loan defaulters follows an order made last month by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The relief from CRB blacklisting is set to last until  September next year.

CBK had given a similar suspension of CRB listings in April last year for a period of six months, as part of the measures to cushion borrowers hit by the pandemic.

According to data by Central Bank, The number of loan accounts negatively listed with CRBs hit 14 million in January this year and spiked by 45 percent after the initial CRB suspension was lifted.

CRB listing is a positive or negative record of your credit information that is submitted to Credit Reference Bureaus by financial institutions. Negative listings block you from accessing credit at any financial institution.