UPDATE 1-Kenya cenbank: GDP growth in 2020 to rise to 6.2%

Kenya's economic growth this year is forecast at 6.2%, up from 5.7% , central bank governor Patrick Njoroge said on Tuesday. The bank expects a recovering agriculture sector, medium and small businesses, and robust private sector credit growth to support that growth.

"We will end up with 6.2%," Njoroge told a news conference. Kenya is East Africa's richest economy and is enjoying an extended rainy season after several years of drought. The government also lifted caps on bank lending rates last year, which had inhibited loans to private business.

On Monday, the central bank cut the benchmark lending rate for the second time in a row, to 8.25% from 8.50%, saying the economy was operating below potential. But concern has been growing over increasing public debt. Hundreds of mismanaged infrastructure projects have stalled and it will cost around $10 billion to revive them, the International Monetary Fund said this month.