Kenya's national debt has seen a significant decrease under President William Ruto's administration, according to the latest weekly bulletin from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) released on May 3. The debt has been lowered by Ksh380 billion, bringing it down to Ksh10.87 trillion as of February 2024. This marks the first reduction in the national debt since June 2022. Prior to this, the debt had surpassed Ksh10 trillion by June 2023, reaching Ksh10.9 trillion by November 2023.
Although Kenya's national debt reached a historic peak of Ksh11.1 trillion and continued to rise to a record Ksh11.2 trillion in January 2024, President Ruto's administration made substantial repayments to international creditors between December 2023 and January 2024, leading to a significant decrease. Noteworthy payments were directed towards the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project and the redemption of the 2014 Eurobond. Furthermore, the administration retired a Ksh70 billion matured infrastructure bond during this period.
Anticipated debt reduction is on the horizon by July 2024, as Kenya plans to repay USD500 million as part of the SGR loan. Presently, out of the Ksh10.87 trillion total national debt, Ksh5.2 trillion constitutes domestic debt. The Ruto administration has demonstrated a preference for local borrowing over foreign debt.
Kenya's public and publicly guaranteed debt amounts to Ksh5.7 trillion, with significant creditors including China, subsidiaries of the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
