Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u, Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS), claims that notwithstanding the worldwide recessions that are upending economies all over the world, Kenya’s national debt, which has surpassed the Ksh. 9.4 trillion threshold, is still manageable.
Ndung’u remarked that the expenses for servicing the debt have grown due to high rates of interest and the devaluation of the Kenyan shilling versus key world currencies when presenting the 2023–24 budget before Parliament on Thursday.
“Furthermore, the decreasing value of the currency has pushed up the size of the public debt stock, as more than half of the public debt is in fact invested in foreign currency,” the minister of finance said.
Kenya would meet its debt obligations, the CS said, despite the country’s growing public arrears.
“Kenya hasn’t accrued debt service arrears, and the administration is dedicated to paying off all public debt commitments when they become due, “according to Ndung’u.
He also said that in order to improve the nation’s debt-to-GDP ratio, the state wants to cut down on expenditures this fiscal year.
“Over the medium term, revenue-driven fiscal consolidation policy stands are expected to substantially strengthen the country’s debt viability ratio and debt burden capacity,” stated the CS.
Kenya will clear all major international debts before 2028.