Kenyan Banks' Average Lending Rate Stood at 14.34% in August
Key Highlights
- The Central Bank of Kenya's August figures put the average lending rate at 14.34%, while the average deposit rate stood at 6.91% and the savings rate at 3.54%.
- The three measures describe different sides of banking, and none guarantees the rate an individual borrower or saver will receive from a specific institution.
- The published panel supplied for this assignment does not provide a previous-month comparison, so the figures cannot establish whether average borrowing costs rose or fell in August.
Kenyan banks' weighted-average lending rate stood at 14.34% in August 2026, while the average deposit rate was 6.91% and the savings rate was 3.54%, according to figures published by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). The figures show the gap between the average rate charged on loans and the returns recorded for deposits and savings accounts.
The figures matter to households and businesses weighing the cost of credit against the return on money held in the bank. They are national averages, however, not a promise that every borrower pays 14.34% or every saver receives the same rate.
What do the three rates mean?
The lending rate is the average interest rate banks charge on loans. The deposit rate measures the average rate paid on deposits, while the savings rate relates to money held in savings accounts. They describe different products and should not be treated as interchangeable.
The 14.34% lending figure is not necessarily the rate offered to a new customer today. A borrower's actual price can depend on the loan agreement, the bank's assessment of risk, fees and whether the rate is fixed or variable. Savings returns can also differ by account type, balance and institution.
For borrowers, the average gives context for the price of credit across the banking system. Anyone comparing a personal loan, mortgage or business facility should still examine the effective annual cost, repayment schedule, fees and conditions in the offer. A headline rate alone does not show the full amount that will be repaid.
Why is the gap important?
The August lending rate was 14.34%, compared with a deposit rate of 6.91% and a savings rate of 3.54%. The difference between lending and deposit rates was 7.43 percentage points; the difference between lending and savings rates was 10.80 percentage points. These are simple differences between the published averages, not measures of any one bank's profit margin.
Banks have operating costs, provisions for loans that may not be repaid, funding expenses and capital requirements. They also price loans according to the risks they believe individual customers present. The spread therefore cannot, by itself, establish how profitable banks were during the month.
Mwenendo has previously explained how variable-rate Kenyan loans can be priced using the Kenya Shilling Overnight Interbank Average (KESONIA) benchmark plus a lender-specific premium. Read our report on how banks price loans differently for different borrowers for that distinction.
What should customers check?
The CBK panel supplied for this assignment does not give a previous-month comparison for these August rates. It would therefore be misleading to claim that borrowing costs rose or fell during the month based on these figures alone.
Borrowers should compare written offers from several lenders and check the total repayment amount, fees, insurance requirements and the conditions under which a variable rate can change. Savers should compare the rate actually available on their balance and account, not rely only on the national average.