According to the IMF, the facility will help finance the country’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and prevent debt distress. However, Budget documents for the 2021/2022 financial year tabled in Parliament last week, signal Kenya’s debt position is more precarious than the government or international lenders are willing to admit. In the 2021/2022 financial year, Kenya is scheduled to make Sh767 billion in debt repayments to domestic lenders that include Sh421 billion in interest rates. “If you look at the public discourse, everybody seems to think that the solution to Kenya’s debt distress problem is to stop borrowing,” explains Kwame Owino, head of the Institute of Economic Affairs. “The IMF is being diplomatic in saying Kenya’s debt is still sustainable but the risk of distress is high,” he said.

Source: Standard Digital May 09, 2021 11:26 UTC