President William Ruto’s Kenya Kwanza government has borrowed Sh1.2 trillion in the last eight months.
The loans show that Ruto has outpaced his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta who borrowed less during the same period of tenure.
According to data from the National Treasury, Uhuru’s government borrowed only Sh437 billion in the first 12 months.
He borrowed an estimated Sh874.5 billion between 2013 and 2015.
However, despite Ruto’s earlier pledge to go slow down on loans, the President has since September 2022 borrowed a total of d Sh419.46 billion from the domestic market alone.
The President has gone to the international market a number of times since taking over office and borrowed Sh716.92 billion.
The Kenya Kwanza government is facing pressure to raise revenue to meet costs to pay salaries and allowances for civil servants as well as finance development projects.
On Monday, the International Monetary Fund(IMF) approved a Sh141.4 billion new loan for Kenya after meeting conditions for continued lending.
The amount took the total money loaned to Kenya by IMF to Sh229.73 billion in the last year.
Monday’s facility was the largest loan from the IMF after Kenya borrowed Sh87.73 billion in December 2022.
On May 19, 2023, Ruto’s administration received a syndicated loan of Sh127 billion from a consortium of international lenders.
The Kenya Kwanza government received a disbursement of Sh141 billion from the World Bank two weeks later.
In July 2023, the country also secured another syndicated loan of Sh70.55 billion.
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) data shows that the government borrowed Sh137.48 billion between September and November 2022.
A total of Sh50.42 billion was disbursed in September, Sh21.85 billion in October, and Sh65.21 billion in November.
Parliament voted last month to increase the debt ceiling from the initial limit of Sh10 trillion to at least 55 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In Ruto’s first six months in office, the government set aside Sh578.4 billion to repay loans.
Uhuru’s administration had allocated Sh501 billion to service public debts during the same period during his tenure.
Uhuru took the public debt to Sh8.7 trillion, a significant increase from the Sh1.8 trillion debt inherited from his predecessor Mwai Kibaki.
