Kenya borrows 3.6 bln USD from external sources in 2022/23 fiscal year

Kenya

NAIROBI, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Kenya borrowed 504.37 billion shillings (about 3.61 billion U.S. dollars) from external lenders in the financial year 2022/2023, the National Treasury said Friday.

The loans were taken from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and through syndicated facilities and projects, noted the Treasury in a statement released in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

The total disbursements from project loans as of June 12 stood at 1.21 billion dollars, said the institution.

On the other hand, in September and December 2022, Kenya received 197 million dollars and 392 million dollars from the IMF for budgetary support.

"By May 19, Kenya had received a disbursement of 800 million dollars from a syndicated facility. An additional 100 million dollars should be disbursed by the end of June to make the total facility 900 million dollars," the Treasury said.

And on May 23, the Treasury noted that Kenya received 1 billion dollars from the World Bank for budgetary support.

During the fiscal year, Kenya repaid some of the external loans to the tune of 1.68 billion dollars.

From the domestic market, the Treasury said the country has borrowed 3.03 billion dollars.

Kenya's debt stands at 68.5 billion dollars with 52 percent of it being external loans.

Njuguna Ndung'u, the National Treasury and Economic Planning cabinet secretary, said Thursday that the public debt remains sustainable but with elevated risks of debt distress due to persistent global shocks that adversely affect the liquidity ratios.