Tue Jun 9, 2015/Reuters

Kenya’s central bank raised its benchmark lending rate by 150 basis points to 10 percent on Tuesday, a slightly higher increment than market expectations of action to support the battered shilling.

The increase was the first rate change in two years – when rates were lowered – and follows a slump in the currency to fresh 3-1/2 year lows that prompted the Monetary Policy Committee to bring its rate meeting forward by a month.