Burundi’s lending interest rate rose to 12.4% in 2025.

Neither way is good in itself. A lower lending rate makes credit cheaper for firms and households. A higher one lets banks cover the risk of loans going bad and supports the returns they can offer savers. The latest figure is 12.4% in January 2025, up from 11.9% a year earlier, a rise of 0.52 percentage points. Since 2016 the range runs from a low of 11.2% in January 2023 to a high of 14.8% in January 2017. The current rate therefore sits in the lower part of that range, closer to the 2023 low than to the 2017 peak.

Why it matters. A Burundian business borrowing to buy stock or equipment currently faces interest of 12.4% a year, which is a little higher than a year earlier. For households and small firms, that affects whether a loan for trade, farming inputs or a home improvement pays for itself. Banks earn more on each loan at this level, and they carry the risk that borrowers struggle to repay.