Nairobi, April 6 -- Kenya's top-listed banks recorded Sh50 billion in paper gains from government bond holdings in 2025, building on the valuation increases seen in 2024 as prices of the papers continued to rise in the secondary market due to a fall in interest rates.

The nine major lenders-KCB, Equity, DTB, Absa, NCBA, Standard Chartered, Co-operative, Stanbic, and I&M-in 2024 booked valuation gains of Sh58.6 billion on the government bonds held for trading purposes, reversing an impairment of Sh37 billion in 2023, when interest rates rose sharply.

Equity Group recorded the largest fair value gain in its bond holdings at Sh19.9 billion in 2025, up from Sh15.76 billion in 2024. The bank held Sh299 billion worth of government bonds for t...