The Kenyan domestic debt grew by Ksh25.51 billion between March 22 and March 28, according to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) weekly bulletin released on Friday, April 5.
This increase saw the internal debt stand at Ksh5.257 trillion from Ksh5.22 trillion.
According to the CBK weekly bulletin, the amount can be attributed to treasury bills and bonds floated over the same period.
Kenya was able to raise Ksh23 billion during the week under review through treasury bills while bonds brought in a significant sum of Ksh3 billion.
Over the same period, overdraft at the Central Bank was reduced by Ksh800 million to stand at Ksh92.18 billion.
Borrowing locally is one of the strategies the government has employed to raise money for development projects.
It is a preferential method by President William Ruto’s administration as it cushions Kenya from the risk of crippling under the dark cloud of expensive foreign debt.
Currently, treasury bills and bonds form the largest sum of Kenya’s domestic debt at Ksh5.04 trillion.
As of March 28, banking institutions were Kenya’s largest local lender accounting for 45.78 per cent of the total domestic debt.
This was a slight decrease from March 22, when they accounted for 45.89 per cent of the total debt.
Pensioners have also continued to be a crucial creditor to the government with Pension Funds accounting for 29.06 per cent of the debt.
Other lenders include; insurance companies (7.16 per cent), parastatals (5.29 per cent) and other investors (12.24 per cent).
