Nairobi, Feb. 11 -- Commercial banks have continued to squeeze their customers for higher margins after cutting their lending rates at a slower pace compared to the returns they offer for deposits.

The industry's average lending margin -which measures the difference between average loan and deposit rates- currently stands at 7.48 percent, up from 5.74 percent in the second half of 2024 when interest rates were at their peak.

The average lending rate stood at 14.48 percent in January 2026, and the deposit rate at 7.0 percent.

Lending rates peaked at 17.22 percent in November 2024, while deposit rates reached a high of 11.48 percent in June 2024.

This means banks have reduced their lending rates by 2.74 percentage points since 2024, whi...