The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given President William Ruto’s administration immediate access to Ksh65 billion as part of supporting Kenya’s economic recovery programme.
This was revealed in the Macro-Economic Outlook report that was presented in the preparation of the 2024/25 Financial Year Medium Term Budget.
The National Treasury remarked that Ruto’s administration was given access to the cash following the fifth review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangements on July 17, 2023.
At the time, Kenya received an augmentation of access under the EFF/ECF of Ksh86 billion which is 75 per cent of the allocated quota.
“Kenya will have immediate access to SDR 306.7 million (USD 410 million), including from the augmentation of access under the ECF/EFF,” the report read in part.
SDR denotes Special Drawing Rights which are supplementary reserve assets defined and maintained by the IMF.
According to the global financial institution, SDRs are units of account for the IMF and while their monetary worth can be calculated, they are not considered as currency.
In this case, Kenya was granted 306 million SDRs which are worth USD410 million translating to Ksh65 billion.
Additionally, during the fifth review, it was agreed that the EFF/ECF arrangement would be extended by 10 months to April 2025.
“IMF (further) agreed on a new 20-month Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangement with access also of 75 per cent of quota that will run in parallel with the EFF/ECF arrangements until April 2025,” the report noted further.
The IMF and World Bank have been key supporters of President William Ruto’s development agenda through long-term loans.
Since taking office in September 2022, President William Ruto has received over Ksh316 billion (USD2 billion) from the two institutions.
Combined with financial support advanced to former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration, the cumulative IMF financial support disbursed under the EFF/ECF arrangements amount to SDR 1,509 million which translates to over Ksh300 billion.
