On May 26, Treasury CS Ukur Yattani issued a Gazette notice urging Members of Parliament to amend the Public Finance Management (National Government) Regulations, 2015, to increase the debt limit.
According to the notice, Regulation 26 of the Public Finance Management (National Government) Regulations 2015, is amended to increase the public debt limit to Sh10 trillion.
The current regulations, enacted three years ago, can only cater to the 2022/23 budget and the medium term plan.
Initially, the National Treasury invited members of the public to share their comments on the Public Finance Management (Amendment) Regulations, 2022, which sought to remove the Sh9 trillion debt ceiling.
As part of the amendments, the CS Yatani-led ministry sought to revert to a debt ceiling calculated according to the Gross Domestic Product of the country, with the cap on public debt set at 55 percent of the GDP.
However, the proposal has been met with concerns, as Kenya's debt as a percentage of GDP was 68 as of June 2021, higher than the proposed 55 percent figure.
As of December 2021, Kenya's stock of public and publicly guaranteed debt stood at Sh8.02 trillion ($70.97 billion).
