Kenya missed out on debt relief from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the organization handed 25 countries from around the world reprieve from loans.
Kenya was part of the nations that sought to hold off debt interest payment this year for poor and developing nations amid worsening economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The country was not among the 25 countries that were granted immediate debt service relief as part of the Fund’s response to help address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, April 4, IMF published the countries that were handed debt reliefs which were Afghanistan, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, D.R., The Gambia, Guinea.
Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Tajikistan, Togo, and Yemen.
Of the 25 nations, 19 were from Africa including fellow East African nation Rwanda.
IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva's statement read, "Today, I am pleased to say that our Executive Board approved immediate debt service relief to 25 of the IMF’s member countries under the IMF’s revamped Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust (CCRT) as part of the Fund’s response to help address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This provides grants to our poorest and most vulnerable members to cover their IMF debt obligations for an initial phase over the next six months and will help them channel more of their scarce financial resources towards vital emergency medical and other relief efforts."
"The CCRT can currently provide about US$500 million in grant-based debt service relief, including the recent US$185 million pledge by the U.K. and US$100 million provided by Japan as immediately available resources.
"Others, including China and the Netherlands, are also stepping forward with important contributions. I urge other donors to help us replenish the Trust’s resources and boost further our ability to provide additional debt service relief for a full two years to our poorest member countries."
According to the IMF website, Kenya's Outstanding Purchases and Loans Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to IMF stands at $260.82 million as of December 31, 2019.
If Kenya is granted debt relief, the country stands to keep hold of up to Sh243 billion in deferred payments to both bilateral and commercial lenders.
Kenya's current debt currently stands at Sh6.2 trillion as of December 2019.
