Ever since the government passed into law the interest rates cap, banks have been forced to take strategic measures which included massive staff retrenchment.
Senior managers earned hefty salaries despite a tough working environment.
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Thousands of workers have been laid off whereas a majority of banks have reported massive net losses in their financial results.
However, such turbulent spells do not depict the whole picture on the other side where it is now emerging that senior bank executives earned a total pay rise of Sh591 million last year.
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An annual report released recently showed that total remuneration to senior managers at 10 publicly traded banks increased 4.9 per cent to hit Sh6.02 billion in 2016 from Sh5.7 billion previously.
Housing Finance led the way in increasing its senior managers’ pay by 52 per cent, followed by Co-op Bank and DTB at 30.1 and 16 per cent respectively.
National Bank hiked its executive pay by 14.5 per cent whereas Equity Group was among the banks with lowest surge in salary hikes standing at a measly 4.03 per cent.
Elsewhere, the likes of NIC Bank, KCB and Stanbic Kenya reported a Sh310.7 million cut in their total executive wage bill.
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Housing Finance CEO Frank Ireri attributed the high payroll costs for senior managers to salary increases, bonuses and an expanded base of senior executives.
Bank managers earn hefty salaries and enjoy a range of benefits such as share ownership schemes, pension and gratuity schemes, membership to elite golf clubs, insurance, travel allowances, and per diem when away on official duty.
Their increased pay was in line with the 13 per cent rise in top bank shareholders’ dividend payout to Sh34.7 billion.
