Moody’s lowered the long-term ratings of three top Kenyan banks – Equity Bank, Co-operative Bank, and KCB Bank – due to their significant exposure to government securities. Of particular concern for KCB Bank is the substantial rise in NPLs, which stood at 18.3% of gross loans as of March 2023. Equity Bank and Co-operative Bank, despite their NPLs standing at 8.3% and 12.4% respectively, also hold substantial amounts of sovereign debt securities.