Kenya asks World Bank for Sh92 billion loan to support budget

CS Ndung’u made the revelation during the launch of the World Bank’s Country Partnership Framework for 2023-28 in Nairobi on Tuesday, December 6, 2022.

He said the government had been trying to negotiate the loan from Sh92 billion to Sh122 billion but the lender was unwilling to increase the figures.

Treasury CS Njuguna Ndungu speaking during the launch of the World Bank's Country Partnership Framework for 2023-28 Pulse Live Kenya

"We have been trying to negotiate this (loan) to Ksh122.75 billion ($1 billion) but World Bank has been adamant," Ndung'u revealed.

“The proposed package under discussion with the World Bank aims at promoting sustainable, resilient, and inclusive growth,” he added.

World Bank is Kenya’s largest multilateral partner with approximately $6.7 billion or Sh800 billion in development projects’ financing.

This loan facility will help the government meet its funding needs until the end of June 2023, according to National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u.

“Kenya like other economies in the region continues to carry the effects of multiple and persistent shocks.

“This has created supply 6 constraints and the outcome is rising inflation and cost of living in general. The Kenya situation has been made worse by the drought effects and the global market conditions that have constrained financing,” the CS said.