NAIROBI (Reuters) – A cap on commercial lending rates in Kenya is “strangling” the economy by locking out many borrowers who are deemed too risky to lend to by banks, the head of the central bank, Patrick Njoroge, said on Wednesday.

The cap, at four percentage points above the central bank’s policy rate, was imposed in Sept. 2016. An attempt by the Finance Minister Henry Rotich to repeal the cap in June was blocked by lawmakers last month.

Reporting by Omar Mohamed; Writing by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Andrew Heavens