REMARKS BY HON. UHURU KENYATTA, E.G.H., M.P.

,DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND MINISTER FOR FINANCE DURING THE INAUGURATION OF THE NEW STANDARD CHARTERED BANK KENYA, HEAD OFFICE, CHIROMO ROAD, WESTLANDS, NAIROBI ON MONDAY JUNE 20, 2011, AT 12.00 P.M.
Your Excellency, Hon. Mwai Kibaki, The President and Commander-in-Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces; Mr. John Peace, Group Chairman, Standard Chartered Group; Mr. Peter Sands, Group Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Group; Mr. Richard Etemesi, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited; Professor Njuguna Ndungu, Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya; Distinguished Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen: 1. Your Excellency, allow me to first and foremost take this opportunity to thank you for accepting to grace this important occasion for Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Limited. It is, indeed, a great honour and privilege to have you as our chief guest. On behalf of all of us here, I would like to express our sincere gratitude to you for finding time out of your busy schedule to be with us. 2. Your Excellency, my task here today, is very brief. It is to invite you to address this distinguished gathering and officially inaugurate the new Head Office for the East African Region for Standard Chartered Bank Limited. But before, I invite you, Sir allow me to make a few remarks. 3. Your Excellency will recall the serious challenges the global economy went through during 2008-2009, triggered by the crisis in the banking sector of the industrial western countries. I am pleased to report Kenya was saved from the first round effects of the global financial crisis because our banking sector was and has continued to be stable. All indicators of financial soundness point to a strong and stable banking sector. Indeed, the stress tests undertaken under a variety of scenarios show that our banks would remain solvent in the event of a reasonably major shock.

4. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is worth noting that the banking sector, in terms of business, has continued to grow strongly. Its loan accounts increased from about 1.2 million in December 2007 to about 2 million in April 2011; and in value terms, gross loans rose from Ksh 616 billion in April to slightly over Ksh 1 trillion in April 2011. In addition, deposit accounts increased from 5.3 million in December 2007 to 14 million in April 2011. Indeed, credit to the private sector has been growing steadily and is directed to the productive sectors, including manufacturing, real estate, and construction. 5. Your Excellency let me also say that the performance of the banking sector, and indeed that of Standard Chartered Bank could not have happened in an environment of poor economic management. For this reason, I would like to underscore that under your leadership, we have made every effort to ensure that we maintain a sound and predictable macroeconomic environment because this is critical for the private sector to thrive. Indeed, as a result of the prudent macroeconomic policies we have pursued, accompanied with structural reforms and heavy investment in infrastructure, economic growth climbed from 1.8% in 2008 to 5.6% in 2010. And despite the delay in the long rains, we expect growth to remain around this level in 2011. 6. Your Excellency I am happy to note the Standard Chartered Bank has been part and parcel of this remarkable performance not only of the banking sector but also the economy as a whole. It is, therefore, with great pleasure that we are celebrating the Banks hundred year anniversary at a time that it is doing well as a bank, but, most importantly, contributing to our economy. 7. Your Excellency, in furthering our Vision 2030 agenda, we at the Ministry of Finance have already initiated steps to establish Nairobi as a regional financial centre providing international financial services to Eastern and Southern African countries. We expect Standard Chartered Bank to play an important role in this regard. 8. But Sir, as you have continued to caution us, we are not yet there. We need to take growth of our economy to 10% annual target we have set for ourselves under Vision 2030. And the banking sector will be expected to play a critical role in this endeavour. Under the Vision 2030, we aim to establish a vibrant and globally competitive financial sector, intermediating high levels of savings and financing Kenya's investment needed to achieve the targeted economic growth.

9. Ladies and Gentlemen, what we are witnessing today is, therefore, a testimony that Standard Chartered Bank is ready to partner with us in pursuing this noble objective. Establishing a regional Shared Service Centre hub supporting the Banks technology operations in Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Botswana and South Africa on a real time basis is a move in the right direction. Moreover, this initiative is a clear vote of confidence in what we want to do as a country and we are thankful for this. 10. I would, therefore, like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Standard Chartered Bank Board and Management for this remarkable performance. Indeed, the Bank has come a long way from its humble beginning one hundred years ago and is now one of the leading banks in Kenya. But as we celebrate this anniversary, let me also say that we expect more and I am sure His Excellency will be expounding on some of these expectations. 11. With these few remarks, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is now my humble duty and pleasure to invite His Excellency, The President, to address this distinguished gathering and officially inaugurate the new Standard Chartered Bank Head Office. Welcome Your Excellency.

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