This archive report was first published on 6 November 2019.
On November 6, 2019, the Kenyan Senate voted to raise the country's public debt ceiling to Ksh9 trillion, a move that has raised concerns about the nation's economic sustainability.
The decision was made despite warnings from global financial institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), that the country's current debt of Ksh5.8 trillion is unsustainable.
According to the World Bank, the Treasury's budget estimates are unrealistic, and fiscal consolidation should be an outcome of a realistic revenue projection and a well-anchored expenditure position to ensure debt remains sustainable.
Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has been under pressure to raise more revenue to service the government's insatiable spending appetite.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani has maintained that the debt ceiling had to be raised for the government to meet its financial obligations this year.
Yattani has also announced plans to restructure the government's debt portfolio by abandoning expensive commercial loans for more affordable and long-term concessional loans.
President Kenyatta has been criticized for justifying the debt by saying it has been injected into development projects that will grow the country's economy, but economists have differed with him, saying most of the borrowed money has been misappropriated.
Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has accused the Treasury of cooking books to cover up its poor economic decisions.
