Kenya Advised to Restructure Current Debts, Reduce Commercial Borrowing if It Wants to Avoid Default

Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP

The Washington, D.C.-based multinational NGO International Budget Partnership (IBP – it was formerly known as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) recently warned Kenya’s National Treasury to take drastic measures in order to avoid the bottom falling out of the economy due to the country’s worsening debt crisis.

Although the IBP paper published this month did not focus specifically on the disproportionate amount of Kenya’s external debts that are owed to China, the group did implicitly recommend Nairobi to reach out to Beijing to restructure some or all of the $6+ billion it currently owes.

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest news and analysis from Africa, Asia, and across the Global South.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China’s relations across the Global South.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

OR

Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More
by Eric Olander

Most Read

1
Developing Countries’ Debt Servicing Costs to China Are Significant, but Nowhere Near as Much as Other Creditors
2 Chinese Military Fans Discuss Why Indonesia Bought Rafale Instead of J-10C
3 From J-10C to Kaan? Indonesia’s Fighter Jet Deal With Turkey Shocks Chinese Military Fans
4
Indonesia Goes Nuclear, Taps China and Russia for Modular Reactors
5
Chinese Cargo Planes Secretly Ferrying Supplies to Iran, Claim Online Sleuths
6
Thailand in Last-Minute U.S. Talks as 36% Tariff Looms

You Might Like

Africa’s Cost of Borrowing is Orders of Magnitude Higher Than the Rest of the World

To understand why African finance leaders are so determined to avoid a default on their Eurobond debt all you have to do is look at the current interest rates that many of the ...

With No Debt Relief Deal in Place, Africa’s Economic Crisis Worsens by the Day

The cost of borrowing for many African governments is rapidly rising as the economic crisis on the continent worsens. While the double-digit yields on African bonds is great news for investors looking for new ...

Latest World Bank Debt Report Prompts Renewed Concern About Kenya, Ethiopia

Journalists and analyst have been poring through the World Bank’s latest report on global debt that was published last month. Two African countries in particular, Kenya and Ethiopia, stand ...

Forget About Repayment Holidays, Kenya Wants Its Creditors (Ahem… China) To Cancel Some of Its Debts

The Kenyan Treasury is reportedly considering a new plan to approach its creditors to ask for outright cancellation of some of its debt, according to a report in Business Daily. ...

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.

More about CGSP