This archive report was first published on 15 July 2020.
On July 15, 2020, Standard & Poor's Global Rating agency revised Kenya's outlook to 'negative' from 'stable', citing the significant impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the country's GDP growth and public finances.
This move follows similar downgrades by Fitch and Moody's, which have also given Kenya a negative outlook.
According to S&P Global Ratings, external financial support, including from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will help fund Kenya's twin fiscal and external deficits in 2020, but external debt will rise sharply in 2020 and remain high in 2020-2023.
The agency affirmed Kenya's rating at B+/B, citing deteriorating fiscal and external outlook and higher debt and interest burdens as the main reason for the revision.
S&P Global Ratings expects the negative economic fallout of the pandemic to drive real GDP growth down to 1% in 2020, followed by a rebound to 4% in 2021.
