This archive report was first published on 11 July 2020.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) issued a directive in April 2020, suspending the listing of negative credit information for borrowers whose loans were performing previously but have become non-performing due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Metropol Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) has been disregarding this directive, listing borrowers who default loans for 30 days instead of the stipulated 90 days.
According to a Metropol employee, the bureau has been blacklisting borrowers who have defaulted for less than 90 days, in contravention of the CBK directive.
On April 8, 2020, the Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Planning, Ukur Yatani, announced the suspension through Gazette Notice No. 3096, stating that loans that fall in arrears from April 1 to September 30, 2020, would not lead to the 'blacklisting' of the borrower on the CRBs.
Other CRBs, Transunion and Credit Info, are said to be compliant with the directive, although this could not be independently verified.
CBK had announced the emergency measures on March 25, 2020, to shield borrowers from the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
