Thursday, September 19, 2024 - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is set to advance another Ksh464 billion loan to President William Ruto’s government.
This is after Ruto and his government agreed to its
harsh demands which Kenyans had rejected forcing the Gen Zs to go to the streets.
The decision was made after IMF concluded a
six-day visit to Kenya where it held discussions on the recent developments in
the country.
In a statement issued by the Bretton Woods
Institution, the discussions were centered on policies and reforms to address
the emerging economic and fiscal challenges.
According to the IMF team leader Haimanot
Teferra, during the meeting, Ruto's administration expressed its commitment to
making economic and governance reforms to fit the Fund's recommendations.
"The Kenyan authorities and IMF staff had
productive discussions on the authorities' policies and reforms to address the
evolving economic and fiscal challenges,” read part of the statement by
IMF.
During the discussions, the IMF on the other
hand pledged to support the country in its efforts to identify a set of
policies that would accelerate the completion of the reviews under the ongoing
programs.
In 2023, Kenya began discussions with the Fund
for additional lending of Ksh464 billion ($3.6 billion) to support climate
change measures.
After several months of deliberations,
the IMF reached a staff-level agreement with Kenya in June this year
for the disbursement of the multi-billion funds.
In a statement shared by the IMF in June, the
multilateral lender noted that the agreement was reached after Kenya nodded to
the Fund's fiscal recommendations.
However, Kenya's access to the multi-billion
loan was hampered following the anti-government demonstrations that took place
in mid-June which forced Ruto to drop the Finance Bill 2024, consequently
impacting the disbursement of the Ksh464 billion loan.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
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