NAIROBI, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Kenya’s central bank said on Monday it had suspended for one year a move to blacklist borrowers with non-performing loans of less than 5 million shillings ($44,800) at the start October in an effort to help small and medium-sized businesses. The suspension is one of a series of measures that President Uhuru Kenyatta announced on Oct. 20 to boost the economy as it recovers from the effects of COVID-19. “The suspension is therefore targeted to rope in the MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) and for a specified duration that will provide space to turn around their businesses,” the bank said in a statement. The bank said the measure would stay in place until Sept. 30, 2022. In July, it said loans restructured by small and medium-sized businesses jumped tenfold in 2020 to 234.7 billion shillings, up from 20.6 billion shillings in 2019, largely due to the impact of COVID-19. $1 = 111.5000 Kenyan shillings Reporting by George Obulutsa Editing by Mark Potter