National Bank of Kenya Ltd. CEO Wilfred Musau said the lender could shut down some of its 85 branches to cut costs after a government-imposed limit on commercial lending rates hit local banks' ability to provide loans as clients turn to digital banking, Bloomberg News reported March 5.
In an emailed response, Musau said the bank, which has the country's biggest bad-loan book, will decide on the number of branches to be closed in the second quarter.
Local lenders have shut down at least 39 branches and axed 1,620 jobs since the cap was announced in August 2016, the newswire noted, citing Nairobi-based Cytonn Investment Management Ltd.
The bank, which cut 150 jobs in February, reportedly had the worst nonperforming loan book in the third quarter of 2017, with NPLs taking up 44% of total loans.
