Kenya and IMF Strike Deal for Economic Stability

Kenya has reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the disbursement of approximately $976 million. The agreement awaits approval from the IMF's executive board in Washington. If the board approves a second review of Kenya’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility, $120 million would be made available immediately.

Despite ongoing liquidity challenges since 2022, Kenya successfully sold a new $1.5 billion Eurobond in February, partially to buy back another Eurobond maturing in June. However, the IMF has cautioned about a potential worsening of Kenya's primary fiscal balance for the 2023/24 fiscal year and possible tax collection shortfalls, which could increase domestic borrowing needs. The current IMF lending deal for Kenya totals $3.6 billion.