FACTBOX-Kenya BoP swings to $524 mln surplus in yr to March

NAIROBI, July 22 (Reuters) - Kenya recorded a balance of
payments surplus of $524 million in the year to March 2010 from
a deficit of $698 million a year previous, the central bank said
in its latest monthly economic review.

Here are some details from the economic overview:

* The current account deficit shrank to $1.072 billion in
the twelve months to March from a deficit of $2.155 billion a
year earlier.

* In April, gross official foreign exchange reserves held by
the central bank rose to $3.805 billion, or 4.0 months of import
cover, from $2.888 billion in the same month a year ago.

* Domestic credit grew by 23.2 percent in the year to April,
compared with growth of 11.2 percent a year earlier. Private
sector credit increased to 17.4 percent, from 14.5 percent
previously.

* The average interbank rate rose to 2.46 percent in April
from 2.21 percent in March.

* The interest rate spread widened to 10.09 percent in April
from 10.06 percent a month earlier. The average deposit rate
stood at 4.49 percent from 4.74 percent in March, while lending
rates were at 14.58 percent from 14.80.

* Commercial banks' aggregate balance sheet grew by 21.4
percent to 1,488.5 billion shillings ($18.18 billion) in April.
In the same month, gross loans and advances grew to 799.5
billion shillings from 698.2 billion shillings a year before.

* In the first 10 months of the 2009/10 (July-June) fiscal
year, the budget deficit rose to 106.3 billion shillings , or
4.2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) on a commitment
basis, within the government's ceiling of 6.2 percent of GDP.

* Kenya's public debt stood at 1,191 billion shillings --
or 25.9 percent of GDP -- in April, up 137.4 percent from
1,053.7 billion shillings in the same period a year previous.
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($1=81.85 Kenyan Shilling)
(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Richard Lough)