Officials within Kenya’s government have said that the country is “broke” and lacks needed funds for developmental projects.
The country’s Treasury has said that plans are currently in place to reduce its budget deficit which stands at least $790 million.
The treasury cabinet secretary Henry Rotich on Wednesday told a senate finance committee that there is the need to reduce budgets for each of Kenya’s 47 counties by up to $178m within this financial year.
Rotich is quoted as saying that “We are running short of revenue. There was a slow-down in business activities because of [last year’s contested] elections. We are now catching up”.
According to the Financial Times, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has given Kenya a six-month extension of a frozen $1.5bn stand-by facility as it demands that Kenya modifies its interest rate controls.
Kenya’s economic growth is expected to have fallen to about 4.8% in 2017, according to the Financial Times which quotes the IMF as saying that the current issues are linked to Kenya’s political crisis and a prolonged drought.
President Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in for a second term in November last year after winning the repeat presidential election held in October.
Source: Africafeeds.com
