IMF says debt could be higher: Kenya's public debt hits KSh 13 trillion
This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.
- Kenya's public debt crossed KSh 13 trillion for the first time, official Central Bank of Kenya figures confirm
- The debt stock has risen by roughly KSh 4.3 trillion since President William Ruto took office in August 2022
- The IMF wants Kenya to expand its debt definition, a disagreement that has stalled talks on a new lending programme
Kenya's total public and publicly guaranteed debt has surpassed KSh 13 trillion for the first time, according to the latest weekly bulletin from the Central Bank of Kenya, with the milestone arriving as the country enters a general election cycle and debt repayments consume close to three-quarters of government revenue.
The bulletin places the debt stock at KSh 13.011 trillion as of the end of June 2026.
When President William Ruto assumed office in August 2022, that figure stood at KSh 8.7 trillion, meaning the country has added approximately KSh 4.3 trillion in borrowing over four years.
The pace of accumulation has been striking: the KSh 10 trillion threshold was only breached in June 2025, just 15 months before the latest record was set.
How is Kenya's debt structured?
Of the total, domestic debt accounts for KSh 7.327 trillion while external obligations stand at KSh 5.685 trillion.
That split tilts significantly towards domestic borrowing, placing Kenya outside the parameters of its own medium-term debt management strategy, which targeted a 50:50 domestic-to-external ratio as a buffer against currency fluctuations.
The reported figure may still understate the country's true liabilities.
The International Monetary Fund has urged Kenya to adopt a broader definition of public debt, one that would incorporate pending bills, securitisation funds and loans held by state corporations that carry no government guarantee. Doing so could add more than KSh 1 trillion to the recorded total.
"The fund deems the arrears material, highlighting them as significant financial information that could influence the decision of stakeholders like investors and creditors," the IMF stated in a technical report on the matter, as reported by The Standard.
Why are Kenya and the IMF at odds?
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi resisted the IMF's proposed accounting approach, contending that securitised debt, obligations backed by future tax revenues rather than direct government guarantees, should not be classified as sovereign debt.
The government has securitised approximately KSh 335 billion in tax receipts to fund development projects.
The disagreement has complicated efforts to agree on a successor programme to the previous IMF facility, a arrangement worth KSh 466.3 billion (USD 3.6 billion) that expired in April 2025.
Kenya drew down KSh 404 billion under that programme by March 2025 but did not receive the final KSh 109.8 billion tranche before it lapsed.
Negotiations on a new IMF programme remain unresolved as both sides continue to disagree on what should count towards Kenya's official debt figure.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
Reporting originally appeared via TUKO. Read the full source for additional context.