The International Monetary Fund plans to disburse $300 million to Kenya after completing a two-week review of the nation’s ongoing program.
(Bloomberg) — The International Monetary Fund plans to disburse $300 million to Kenya after completing a two-week review of the nation’s ongoing program.
A staff team will be in Nairobi starting early next week to assess Kenya’s performance under a three-year, $2.4 billion loan program, the lender’s resident Kenya representative, Tobias Rasmussen, said in an emailed response to questions from Bloomberg.
Upon reaching staff-level agreement, a staff report will be presented to the IMF board within a few weeks. “Completion of the review would then unlock a disbursement,” Rasmussen said.
Kenya in February 2021 signed a 38-month IMF program to help reduce debt vulnerability, with the nation spending more than half of tax revenue on servicing debt. Cumulative disbursements under the program reached $1.5 billion after Kenya in December requested additional funds to battle the worst drought in four decades, which has ravaged the Horn of Africa region and left millions hungry.
The funds will provide liquidity to Eastern Africa’s second biggest economy, which has suffered a double whammy of a liquidity crunch and dwindling foreign exchange reserves.
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