Government spokesman Isaac Mwaura has asked Kenyans to persevere in the wake of the current harsh economic times saying the country will get out of problem sooner or later.
Speaking at a press briefing, Mwaura said Kenya Kwanza is keen to ensure self-reliance in financing the national budget.
"When this administration came into power, we knew what we were getting ourselves into. We knew we were going to inherit a country that was reeling from a lot of public debt," he said.
He said President William Ruto’s administration faces the challenge of saving the country from the huge debt, now and the future.
“I really want to call upon Kenyans 'tuvumilie'. In the next two years or so for sure, we'll start seeing changes," he added.
He said there was very little room for anything to be done when the current administration took over.
“We had to come up with some new ways of financing the budget. The only way to finance development is to cut costings and we have done it by up to Sh500 billion,” he stated.
He added that the government is also looking for new ways of raising revenue.
“If we do not do that, we will use somebody else’s money that they have saved and we pay through the nose. Eventually, we will get out of the hole, we are trying to rebuild a foundation,” he said.
External borrowing grew briskly in 2013-20, as the government waded into the Eurobond market, drawn by competitive financing terms.
National Treasury spending on debt repayments rose Sh306 billion in the year to June, according to documents by the National Treasury.
According to a report by Faida Investment Bank, Kenya’s public debt has risen rapidly over the past decade from Sh 1.9 trillion in June 2013 to Sh9.7 trillion by June 2023.
The sustained depreciation of the shilling continues to put pressure on the government’s ability to finance external debt.
