The Treasury Wednesday announced it had reduced pending bills by nearly 90 percent, offering relief to suppliers and contractors that have been the target of auctioneers.

Treasury Secretary Ukur Yatani said the pending bills had dropped from Sh152 billion to Sh18.71 billion over the past 18 months in a speedy payment scheme aimed at improving the fortunes of small businesses and easing a cash crunch across all sectors.

Frequent delays in those payments have been blamed for the financial troubles of small businesses and job losses.

KCB Group net profit for the full-year to December 2019 grew by 4.8 percent to Sh25.1 billion from Sh23.99 billion the previous year bolstered by growth in interest income from consolidated book with National Bank of Kenya

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The lender's assets stand at Sh898.5 billion from Sh714.3 billion edging it closer to the Sh1 trillion psychological mark for the country's largest bank by assets.