KIGALI, Rwanda – The National Bank of Rwanda Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) last week decided to maintain the key Repo Rate at 6.5% for the fourth quarter of 2015.
“The Committee will continue to monitor developments and take appropriate actions as required,” John Rwangombwa, the BNR Governor and Committee Chair said in a statement.
The Repo Rate is money lent to commercial banks in the event of any shortfall of funds.
Rwangombwa said the MPC reviewed recent economic and financial developments and the outlook of its previous monetary policy decisions. He said in view of these developments and the outlook for the fourth quarter of 2015, the MPC decided to maintain the current accommodative monetary policy stance so as to continue supporting economic financing.
“The Rwandan financial sector remains adequately capitalized. In June 2015, the capital adequacy ratio of banks and micro-finance institutions stood at 24.3% and 31.4% respectively against the benchmark of 15%,” he said.
He said the solvency margin ratio of insurance companies stood at 94.1% against a minimum benchmark of 100%. The non-performing loans portfolio held by banks also fell from 6.6% to 5.9% while Return of Assets for the whole banking sector increased from 2.1% to 2.4%.
“Outstanding credit to the private sector grew by 26.6% (year-on-year) August 2015 compared to 15.5% in 2014. Growth in broad money slowed to 16.1% from 23.7% in August 2014. The new authorized loans increased by 9.2% (y-o-y) in August 2015,” he said.
Rwangombwa said the Rwanda economy grew by 7% during the second quarter of 2015. “This good performance is expected to continue as indicated by the Composite Index of Economic Activities (CIEA) that grew by 8.8% in the first two months the third quarter in 2015.”
