NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya is in talks with the World Bank for a budget support loan, sources said on Friday, as the new government of President William Ruto moves to secure cheaper sources of finance.
Finance Minister Njuguna Ndung’u disclosed news of the discussions to reporters late on Thursday, private broadcaster Citizen TV said on its website, adding that he did not provide more details.
A source at the World Bank confirmed the talks to Reuters, adding that more information will be availed at a later date.
Ruto is seeking less costly loans after a debt-fuelled infrastructure construction drive by his predecessor saddled the country with high-interest commercial debt.
The instrument under discussion is a Development Policy Operations loan, the sources said, which is usually tied to a pre-agreed policy area.
Kenya qualified for that type of financing in 2019 and it has since received four such loans, the last one in March.
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Apart from the planned shift away from an overreliance on domestic borrowing to concessional financing, Ruto’s government wants to cut the fiscal deficit sharply and it is revising this financial year’s budget to cut expenditure by 300 billion shillings ($2.46 billion).
($1 = 121.8000 Kenyan shillings)
(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; editing by John Stonestreet)