- For the first time in July, Kenya’s debt burden crossed the Sh8.61 trillion mark. Its loan repayments to China tripled in July as it became ineligible for debt relief gestures by Beijing owing to its middle-income nation status.
For the first time in July, Kenya’s debt burden crossed the Sh8.61 trillion mark. Its loan repayments to China tripled in July as it became ineligible for debt relief gestures by Beijing owing to its middle-income nation status. China’s debt relief plan included 17 least developed African countries forgiving of 23 matured interest-free loans. Kenya became a lower middle-income country when it attained the United Nations’ $1,045 (Sh126,138.77) gross domestic product (GDP) per capita threshold.
Data by the National Treasury shows that as of June, Kenya’s external debt stood at Sh4.299. Kenya owed China, its largest bilateral lender and the second largest external lender after the World Bank, Sh779 billion as of June 2022. This accounts for almost 18% of Kenya’s total external debt. Kenya paid a debt repayment of Sh25.75 billion to China in July, a three-fold increase from its last Sh8.87billion debt repayment in January. The Kenyan government paid a total of Sh305.3 billion to external lenders in the year to June 2022 in debt service.
As per the indications from the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), Kenya’s debt stock may reach Sh9.8 trillion by June next year.
Also read;
https://trendsnafrica.com/rising-external-debts-dents-kenyas-growth-outlook-for-2022/
https://trendsnafrica.com/rising-public-debt-a-concern-kenyan-economists/
https://trendsnafrica.com/kenyas-efforts-to-seek-debt-relief-from-china-hits-road-block/
