Kenya's parliament a step away from capping bank lending rates

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's parliament on Wednesday morning passed a bill capping lending rates by commercial banks at 4 percentage points above the central bank's benchmark rate, the leader of the governing coalition told Reuters. The bill will go back before parliament later today for a second vote, Aden Duale, who leads government business in the national assembly, told Reuters. The bill will then be forwarded to the president for assent. "They have passed it, but the rules of the house are that all the issues dealt in the morning will again be put - the final vote will be put in the afternoon. It's just a formality," Duale said. Jude Njomo, the lawmaker who sponsored the motion, told Reuters in March that high lending rates at around 18 percent or more, were stifling investments in the economy. (Reporting by Duncan Miriri, editing by Larry King)