The National Treasury seeks to increase the country’s debt ceiling from the current Sh9 trillion to Sh10 trillion to enable the Government to borrow more to finance the Sh3.33 trillion budget for the 2022/23 financial year.
In a Gazette notice issued on May 26, Treasury CS Ukur Yattani wants Members of Parliament (MP) to amend the Public Finance Management(national government) Regulations, 2015, to increase the limit.
“Regulation 26 of the Public Finance Management (National Government) Regulations 2015, is amended in sub-regulation 1 by deleting paragraph (c) and substituting therefore with: pursuant to the provision of section 50(2) of the Act, the public debt shall not exceed Ksh10 trillion,” the notice read in part.
The National Treasury had invited members of the public to share their comments on the Public Finance Management (Amendment) Regulations, 2022 which seeks among others, to remove the Sh9 trillion debt ceiling.
As of June 2021, the Parliamentary Budget Office had indicated that Kenya’s debt as a percentage of GDP was 68, a figure which is higher than the proposed 55 percent figure.
As of December 2021, Kenya’s stock of public and publicly guaranteed debt stood at as at Ksh8.02 trillion($70.97 billion).
