Kenya Plays Down Moody's Credit Downgrade
On Thursday May 18, 2023, the economy was the topic of discussion. The state of the economy was analyzed and discussed. People were interested in finding out if there has been any improvement or not. This is because the economy affects everyone's daily life. The discussion was interesting and people were attentive. Many questions were asked and answered. Everyone left the discussion with more knowledge about the economy.
Chris Kiptoo, who is the Principal Secretary at the National Treasury, was photographed on March 6, 2023. The photo was taken by Lucy Wanjiru.
Kenya thinks Moody's credit rating downgrade is not that bad.
The person in charge of money at the government, Dr Chris Kiptoo, says Kenya will get about Sh578.0 billion from other countries by the end of this month. We don't have to worry about running out of money.
Moody's say banks still have bad loans problem.
The ratings agency isn't bad. We'll get $3.0 billion this week, which we planned for. In two and a half weeks, we'll get another $1.0 billion from the World Bank. This is what Kiptoo said to the National Assembly Departmental Committee on Finance and Planning.
We will pay ministries, counties, and Constituency Development Fund as soon as we get the money. This will make our money situation better.
Kiptoo said words after Moody's rating agency changed Kenya's rating from B2 to B3. Kenya is now seen as very high credit risk instead of high credit risk.
Kenya got another downgrade from Moody's, making it the third time in half a year. S&P and Fitch also downgraded Kenya earlier. S&P did it in February 2023, and Fitch did it in December 2022.
There is a shortage of Sh67bn in funds to pay off debts. This causes pain for those who owe money. It's important for them to find a way to get the funds needed to pay off their debts. They may need to seek help or make sacrifices to do so.
Moody's said the government's liquidity risks caused the rating downgrade. Domestic funding conditions got worse in the past two months. They didn't raise enough money, so government spending was delayed.
