Kenya seems to be running on the wheels of debts after it has emerged that the National Treasury has been borrowing an average of 2.1 billion shillings per day.
Stats released by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) indicate that between the month of January and February 2019, the Treasury borrowed 126.4 billion shillings.
Kenya’s public debt now stands at 5.4 trillion shillings with analysts estimating that it is likely to hit the 6.2 trillion mark in the course of the year.
Domestic debt has ballooned to 142.6 billion shillings to 2.692 trillion shillings in two months while the external debts has dipped slightly by 22 billion shillings to 2.707 trillion shillings.
Kenya’s largest lenders are the Chinese and the World Bank. Already the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have raised concerns over Kenta’s roaring appetite for borrowing.
Kenya already owes the Chines Exim bank 324 billion shillings that was acquired for the construction of the first phase of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). Currently, Kenya is paying 36 billion shillings annually for the same. The loan becomes due in July 2019 where the annual pay will jump to 86 billion shillings.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is off to China for another loan of 380 billion shillings that is aimed at facilitating the construction of the second phase of the SGR. Currently, the first phase of SGR has been making losses. In 2018, SGR made 10.8 billion shillings in revenues as compared to 12 billion shillings used to maintain it.
The government has heavily been borrowing from local banks at a good rate leading to them denying the private sector and individuals who are considered risky.
The latest figures about Kenya’s debts have raised concerns among stakeholders with estimates indicating that the debt will hit the 7.2 trillion mark by the year 2022.