Tuesday, February 13, 2024 – President William Ruto has been forced to borrow extensively to cover up former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s mess.
This disclosure was made by Ruto
himself during an interview with Japan’s Nikkei publication,
on February 9, with the Head of State justifying why Kenya had now to borrow to
offset its loans.
Uhuru borrowed a whopping Ksh 6.7
trillion but failed to spread the payment, a move that has seen Ruto struggle
to pay over Ksh1.3 trillion in the 2023/2024 financial year.
Speaking during the interview,
Ruto emphasised that Kenya would broaden its development financing avenues to
prevent similar miscalculations from occurring in the future.
This would be beneficial in that
repayments would not fall simultaneously and would not solely be made in
dollars leading to the weakening of the shilling.
President Ruto kickstarted this
process on December 7, when he pushed for India to extend a Ksh38 billion
loan to Kenya in Indian Rupees rather than in dollars.
While in Japan, the President
also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nippon Export and
Investment Insurance (NEXI) for the issuance of a Samurai Bond worth Ksh80
billion, which is Yen-dominated,
In December 2023, Ruto’s
government repaid Ksh10.8 billion as interest on the USD2 billion Eurobond loan
secured in 2014.
Less than two months later,
Kenya formally started buying back the Eurobond issued in 2014 during Uhuru’s
tenure.
On January 19, the National
Treasury admitted that Kenya had paid over Ksh72 billion to China concerning
Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and other infrastructure loans.
Noteworthy, Kenya has yet to
default on any international loan under Ruto’s tenure with the President
assuring investors that he will honour all its debt obligations.
Kenya has borrowed over Ksh2.4
trillion since September 2022, with the majority of the advanced sum used to
repay loans maturing in the 2023/2024 financial year.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
-overlay.jpg)
0 Comments