Fueled by Chinese Loans, Kenya’s National Debt Tops $57 Billion

Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP

Kenya’s Treasury released new information about the country’s rising debt load, announcing that it’s about to reach Sh6 trillion ($57 billion.) Last week, Parliament approved a new, higher debt ceiling of Sh9 trillion ($87 billion) in part to accommodate 44 new loan requests to pay for some of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s “Big Four” infrastructure projects — some of which will be financed through Chinese lending.

  • The Treasury says as long as the debt-to-GDP ratio remains under 70%, the government will be able to service its loans. At the end of the 2018/19 fiscal year in June, the total public debt as a percentage of GDP was 55.2%.
  • The biggest increase in Kenyan public debt in recent years has come from China and also multilateral lenders such as the World Bank.

Read the full article on the Business Daily website.

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by Eric Olander

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