The Kenyan government has borrowed a record Sh560 billion in six months, which brings the total public debt to Sh7.3 trillion by November last year.
According top experts, this was Sh32 billion more than what it earned in taxes, with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) collecting Sh527.8 billion from taxpayers between July and November 2020.
According to data from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the country’s total debt surged from Sh6.7 trillion in June last year as the government plunged into debt market to “finance an expansive budget and help stimulate the economy.”
“If we add all the loans that have been committed, the country’s total debt jumps to Sh8.4 trillion, just Sh600 billion shy of the Sh9 trillion legal ceiling, ” said a Nairobi-based financial expert
“But this debt-ceiling could be crashed should the National Treasury include non-guaranteed loans as well as county loans in the computation of public debt,” she added.
According to local dailies, in two months – October and November – Treasury borrowed an additional Sh133 billion. A big chunk of the additional loans were external with the stock of foreign loans jumping by Sh108.3 billion between September and November.
