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REMARKS BY HON. UHURU KENYATTA,E.G.H., M.P.,DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER ANDMINISTER FOR FINANCE DURING THEINAUGURATION OF THE NEW STANDARDCHARTERED BANK KENYA, HEAD OFFICE,CHIROMO ROAD, WESTLANDS, NAIROBI ONMONDAY JUNE 20, 2011, AT 12.00 P.M.
Your Excellency, Hon. Mwai Kibaki, The President and Commander-in-Chiefof the Kenya Defence Forces;Mr. John Peace, Group Chairman, Standard Chartered Group;Mr. Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Group;Mr. Richard Etemesi, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered BankKenya Limited;Professor Njuguna Ndungu, Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya;Distinguished Guests;Ladies and Gentlemen:
1.
Your Excellency,
allow me to first and foremost take this opportunity tothank you for accepting to grace this important occasion for StandardChartered Bank Kenya Limited. It is, indeed, a great honour and privilege tohave you as our chief guest. On
behalf of all of us here, I would like toexpress our sincere gratitude to you for finding time out of your busyschedule to be with us.
2.
Your Excellency,
my task here today, is very brief. It is to invite you toaddress this distinguished gathering and officially inaugurate the
new HeadOffice
for the East African Region for Standard Chartered Bank Limited. But before, I invite you, Sir allow me to make a few remarks.3.
Your Excellency
will recall the serious challenges the global economywent through during 2008-2009, triggered by the crisis in the banking sector ofthe industrial western countries. I am pleased to report Kenya was saved fromthe first round effects of the global financial crisis because our banking sectorwas and has continued to be stable. All indicators of financial soundness pointto a strong and stable banking sector. Indeed, the
“stress tests”
undertakenunder a variety of scenarios show that our banks would remain solvent in theevent of a reasonably major shock.
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4.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
it is worth noting that the banking sector, interms of business, has continued to grow strongly. Its loan accounts increasedfrom about 1.2 million in December 2007 to about 2 million in April 2011; andin value terms, gross loans rose from Ksh 616 billion in April to slightly overKsh 1 trillion in April 2011. In addition, deposit accounts increased from 5.3million in December 2007 to 14 million in April 2011. Indeed, credit to theprivate sector has been growing steadily and is directed to the productivesectors, including manufacturing, real estate, and construction.5.
Your Excellency
let me also say that the performance of the bankingsector, and indeed that of Standard Chartered Bank could not have happenedin an environment of poor economic management. For this reason, I would liketo underscore that under your leadership, we have made every effort to ensurethat we maintain a sound and predictable macroeconomic environment because this is critical for the private sector to thrive. Indeed, as a result of theprudent macroeconomic policies we have pursued, accompanied withstructural reforms and heavy investment in infrastructure, economic growthclimbed from 1.8% in 2008 to 5.6% in 2010. And despite the delay in the longrains, we expect growth to remain around this level in 2011.6.
Your Excellency
I am happy to note the Standard Chartered Bank has been part and parcel of this remarkable performance not only of the bankingsector but also the economy as a whole. It is, therefore, with great pleasure thatwe are celebrating the Bank’s hundred year anniversary at a time that it isdoing well as a bank, but, most importantly, contributing to our economy.7.
Your Excellency,
in furthering our Vision 2030 agenda, we at theMinistry of Finance have already initiated steps to establish Nairobi as aregional financial centre providing international financial services to Easternand Southern African countries. We expect Standard Chartered Bank to play animportant role in this regard.8.
But Sir, as you have continued to
caution
us,
we are not yet there.
Weneed to take growth of our economy to 10% annual target we have set forourselves under Vision 2030. And the banking sector will be expected to play acritical role in this endeavour. Under the Vision 2030, we aim to establish avibrant and globally competitive financial sector, intermediating high levels ofsavings and financing Kenya's investment needed to achieve the targetedeconomic growth.
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Uhuru Kenyatta Speech at Standard Chartered Bank Head Office Inauguration
Uhuru Kenyatta speech during the inauguration of the new Standard Chartered Bank Kenya, Head Office
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