Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 778115,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/778115/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 194,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ichung’wah",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1835,
        "legal_name": "Anthony Kimani Ichung'Wah",
        "slug": "anthony-kimani-ichungwah"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. Amongst the many observations contained in this Report, one of the key issues of concern is the level of our debt as a country. The Committee notes that the current net present value of debt to GDP limit is estimated to be in the range of 48.6 to 49 per cent, and the Public Finance Management regulation places the net present value of debt to GDP at a limit of 50 per cent. This means any additional huge borrowing could lead to a breach of the limit that has been set by the PFM regulation. However, it good to note that there is absolutely nothing wrong with borrowing. What matters is what we do with the money we borrow. However, because of the various concerns raised by many people because of our level of borrowing, it is important to note that the Committee had a chance to interact with many people on the issue of debt management. Indeed, the country has been accused of accumulating a lot of debts. We had an analysis of the debt accumulation as a share of GDP across not just the East African countries but also the sub-Saharan African countries in the last five years. I can tell you that Kenya is among the best performing countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Even economies such as Nigeria – which is the biggest and strongest in Africa – have accumulated debt to a level of 69 per cent in the last five years. Kenya is only at 28 per cent. Our East African peers, Tanzania, is at 28.1 per cent. South Africa, which has a bigger economy than Kenya’s, is at 29.3 per cent. In terms of the internationally accepted thresholds of debt to GDP, again, our country is at about 49 per cent against the international threshold of about 74 per cent. Therefore, a threshold of 74 per cent against 48.6 per cent or 49 per cent, we cannot say we are doing badly."
}