Friday, September 6, 2024 – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is seriously reconsidering giving President William Ruto any further loans thanks to the anti-government protests led by the Gen Zs.
This is after the global lender
refused to give Ruto a whopping Ksh77.9 billion after he withdrew the Finance
Bill 2024 due to pressure from Gen Zs and the subsequent court ruling that
nullified the Finance Bill 2023 which provided ways for IMF to recoup its
loans.
IMF has now been forced to reassess Kenya's eligibility to access loans from the lenders.
This move puts the
country’s economic future under renewed scrutiny as the government scrambles to
fill a revenue shortfall.
The IMF’s executive board was
expected to approve the release of $600 million (Ksh77.9 billion) under the
seventh review of Kenya's medium-term funding programme in July.
However, the escalating
political crisis following the Finance Bill's rejection and subsequent protests
delayed that crucial decision.
The assessments are “ongoing,”
an IMF spokesman told Bloomberg in an emailed response to questions on
Wednesday.
“IMF remains committed to
supporting the Kenyan authorities in addressing the economic challenges it
faces,” the spokesman added.
The government needs to find
over Ksh1 trillion to plug budgetary shortfalls, according to President William
Ruto, and the IMF funding is among the avenues the government is seeking to
meet the urgent budgetary needs.
The Kenyan DAILY POST
.jpg)
.jpg)
0 Comments