The Quarterly Economic Budgetary Review shows the outstanding amount of Kenya’s public debt has risen almost two-fold since the Kenyatta Administration entered office, from Sh1.8 trillion in 2013 to Sh3.5 trillion as of September 2016.
This is a steep rise indeed and is putting incredible pressures on the economy.
The public debt has increased from the Sh.1,382,382,194,875 reported in the year 2010/2011 to the Sh2,674,806,364,195 in the year 2014/2015, an increase of Sh1,292,424,169,320, or 93 per cent over the five- year period.
Jubilee has clearly been on a borrowing spree and while it is good to invest in large infrastructure projects, Kenya should try a more step-by-step approach.
Fully 20 per cent of KRA revenue collections are going to be dedicated to servicing debt, including the controversial Eurobond.
The government had proposed a second bond this year.
Treasury targets a net domestic debt of Sh406.61 billion by June 2017.
When the public debt grows so exponentially, it is surely time to slow down on the infrastructural spend and borrowing.
