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Friday, December 1, 2023 –President William Ruto has declared the country safe from debt burden that has been hanging on Kenya’s shoulder for long.
Speaking in a clip shared by his spokesman Husein Mohamed on Thursday November 30, President Ruto said most Kenyans were worried about the rising burden of debt; something that he has decided to start dealing with urgently so that the country can breathe a sigh of relief again.
“Many people were worried with how we will come out of this debt but now I want to announce here that we are in proper control,” he announced.
Dr. Ruto said the country has had debt challenges to a point it was going to be impossible to sort out this and go the direction other African nations had gone, but, this, the president said he will make sure it is resolved as fast as possible.
“The last challenges we had as a country were worrying and many people thought Kenya will go the same way with other defaulting nations.
“I want to announce here that we are in good standing with our lenders and we are ready to make sure all our debts are settled and promise you that we will meet all the obligations,” stated President William Ruto.
On that note, Ruto said, he had recently promised the Parliament that all the debts hanging on Kenya will start being dealt with starting this December heading into next year.
“I said in Parliament that we are starting in December to put our country in a sound economic footing by paying our debts.
“We were actually staring at a debt distress and difficult economic situation,” Dr. Ruto announced further.
And with Kenya struggling to honour international obligations as loan repayments exceed revenue collections, Ethiopia, on Thursday November 30, received a reprieve from global financial institutions following a 2-year debt service suspension.
According to a statement from the Paris Club, an informal group of official creditors, the Ethiopian government and its creditors agreed on a time-bound suspension of debt service due from January 1, 2023, to December 31, 2024.
Some of Ethiopia’s creditors include the International Monetary Fund and the Chinese government.
Ethiopia’s debt relief was announced at a time when Kenya is struggling to pay sh 306 billion Eurobond maturing in June 2024.
