KENYA'S PUBLIC DEBT INCHES TOWARDS 12 TRILLION AS WIILIAM RUTO CONTINUES WITH BORROWING SPREE.

Kenya's public debt has increased by KSh 299.12 billion in a month as President William Ruto continues to secure loans to fund development projects and bridge the budget deficit. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) revealed the details in its weekly bulletin, highlighting monetary and financial developments published on Friday, September 5 2025.
According to the CBK report, the country's public debt soared from KSh 11.51 trillion in May 2025 to KSh 11.81 trillion in June 2025.
During the period under review, the value of domestic debt increased from KSh 6.2 trillion to KSh 6.4 trillion. At the same time, the public and publicly guaranteed external debt rose from KSh 5.31 trillion to KSh 5.48 trillion. Locally, banking institutions top the list of government debt at 44.69%, followed by pension funds (28.76%), other investors (13.46%), insurance companies (7.3%) and parastatals (5.8%).
The same CBK report indicated that the usable foreign exchange reserves remained adequate at USD 10,902 million on Thursday, September 4, compared to USD 10,889 million on Thursday, August 28. The banking regulator noted that this meets its statutory requirement to endeavour to maintain at least four months of import cover. Despite the high debt, the Kenyan Shilling remained stable against major international and regional currencies during the week. The local currency exchanged at KSh 129.24 per US Dollar on September 4, unchanged from KSh 129.24 on August 28.