NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 30- Kenya’s economy is likely to grow by 3.1 percent in 2020, the Central Bank of Kenya governor Patrick Njoroge said on Wednesday.
Njoroge, who was speaking at the post-MPC briefing, said that the growth could be anchored on economic drivers that the country has witnessed since the outbreak of the coronavirus disease.
“It is not a precise estimate, it could be higher depending on the caveats that I raised such as ICT, agriculture, manufacturing,” said Njoroge.
He, however, asked the government to remain keen in flattening the curve of the pandemic to prevent further disruptions to the growth of the economy.
“ The figure could also be lower depending on what happens going forward, we do not know how this disease will evolve and I think the responsibility of the policymakers and our government, in this case, is to make sure that there isn’t another wave of infections and therefore will continue to adjust the restrictions as happened in other economies,” he added.
Njoroge’s sentiments come after Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani who had earlier mentioned that Kenya’s economic growth will not go below 2.5 percent.
The World Bank had also projected a lower growth of 1.5 percent in 2020 with a possibility of contracting further to 1.0 percent.
Njoroge’s prediction comes two days after President Uhuru Kenyatta further relaxed the coronavirus containment measures to revive the economy.
The pandemic disrupted the country’s economy with imposed lockdowns, fewer working hours that led to about 1.7 million Kenyans being rendered jobless, data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics revealed.
In January Governor Patrick Njoroge projected a Gross Domestic Product growth of 6.2 percent, up from 5.7 percent in 2019, backed by a recovery in agriculture and medium and small businesses.
