Kenya is in advanced talks with the World Bank for a loan of 100 billion Shillings.
Kenya wants to cut debt from overseas capital markets, after a borrowing binge in recent years, including Eurobond offerings, a package of Chinese loans and syndicated commercial loans.
The World Bank has multiple development funding programs with Kenya worth billions of dollars, and Treasury has seen it as one of the viable alternatives to commercial debt.
World Bank lent money straight to the Kenyan ministry of finance for the first time last year, changing past practice where it channeled cash straight to the projects, bypassing the Treasury.
“We are thinking something between 50-100 billion (shillings) depending on what kind of interest there will be,” said Julius Muia, the principal secretary in the ministry of finance.
The finance ministry has set a budget deficit of 6.3% of GDP for this financial year to the end of June and Muia said about 213 billion shillings is expected from external sources.
