The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that it has approved the release of $447.39 million to Kenya.
According to an IMF statement, efforts toward fiscal consolidation had caused Kenya’s public debt to ‘level off’, added that it had given extra money under an existing facility.
The IMF and Kenya April 2021 had agreed to a 38-month financing arrangement under its extended fund facility and extended credit facility. The most recent payment brings the total to $1.65 billion.
It noted that Kenya would now receive a total of $2.416 billion from the present agreement.
The increase was agreed upon by both parties last month to cover expenses for external finance due to the drought and difficult global financial conditions.
President William Ruto, who took office in September, intends to eliminate costly commercial borrowing in favour of less expensive sources like the World Bank to lessen the burden that debt servicing puts on revenue.
According to data from CEIC, the Kenyan government’s debt accounted for 67.4 percent of the country’s nominal GDP in June 2022, compared with the ratio of 67.4 percent in the previous quarter.
It also showed that Kenya’s national government’s debt reached $72.1 billion in September 2022.
Photo source: Alliance of Bioversity International
