Kenyans to do business in order pay for the Ksh 97,000 for the government debt. PHOTO | Reuters. |
The government has borrowed twice it borrowed last year. The appetite for borrowing has increased rapidly following the subsidiaries the government has made during campaigns.
Kenya's principal public debt is threatening to hit Sh5 trillion ceiling by the end of this year, moving from Sh3.82 trillion in December 2016 to Sh4.4 trillion by last month.
According to the Central Bank of Kenya, the country's domestic debt as at last month stood at Sh2.118 trillion while the external debt was Sh2.294 trillion in June.
Whereas country's public debt moved from Sh3.61 trillion in June 2016 to Sh3.82 in December the same year, an increase of Sh0.2 trillion, it increased by a whopping Sh0.52 trillion from January's figure of Sh3.88 trillion to Sh4.40 trillion by June this year.
This means that the government is borrowing at an average of Sh86 billion per month this year compared to Sh55 billion in 2015 and Sh54 billion monthly last year.
The 2017 monthly average so far is the highest since 1999 when CBK started listing the country's public debt.
The figures indicate that each Kenyan owes at least Sh97,000 computed against an average population of about 45 million people according to the latest economic survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
The country's debt continues to surge even as its revenues dwindle.
The International Monetary Fund estimated Kenya's debt-service to revenue-ratio at 34.7 percent against the threshold of 30 percent, warning that the country could face the highest inflation if the government failed to readjust its spending plan.
People have been warned against getting to very difficult moments as the IMF cautioned the borrowing ratio is not concurrent with the revenue being generated in the country. "The government will soon face an economic crisis, a rise in inflation and be defaulted. The way Kenya goes will soon be similar to the Zimbabwe situation. What will be the debt by 2020 if now has gone to 5 Trillion? Kenyans should expect to have a debt of 10 Trillion by 2020 as the cash flow is limited as some projects are yet to be completed." IMF officer cautioned.
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