President Kenyatta offers assurances on debt sustainability

Kenya’s public debt stands at about 50 percent of GDP and the country has not been in any danger of failing to repay its creditors, President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Wednesday.

Kenyatta, who faces re-election in August, told parliament in his annual state of the nation address that additional borrowing by his government in the last four years had been used to fund the “most aggressive agenda in Kenya’s history”.

Critics have accused Kenyatta’s government of putting the country at risk by increasing debt.

Kenyatta said the economy had expanded by an annual average of 5.9 percent in the last four years, supporting the creation of 2.3 million new jobs.