Kenya central bank keeps main lending rate unchanged

NAIROBI, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Kenya’s central bank maintained its benchmark lending ​rate at 8.75%, ‌it said on Wednesday after a meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee.

• It ‌was ​the fourth ⁠policy meeting in ⁠a row that the Central Bank of Kenya has kept the ​rate unchanged.

• A Reuters poll of 11 ⁠economists had ⁠nine predicting a ​hold, while two had predicted ​a raise to 9.0%.

• ‌Kenya’s inflation rose to 6.8% year-on-year in September from 6.6% a ⁠month earlier, moving closer to the upper end of ⁠the ‌government’s preferred 2.5%-7.5% ⁠range.

• Inflation is ​expected ‌to remain within the ​target ⁠range in the near term, the bank said in a statement.

(Reporting by George Obulutsa;Editing by Alexander ​Winning)