Unraveling Ksh106B Missing Loan Mystery
The office of the Auditor General disclosed on Thursday, August 3, that Kenya has yet to receive Ksh106 billion in loans committed for the 2022/23 fiscal year, even though some of these loans have already reached maturity.
During his testimony before the National Assembly Public Debt and Privatization Committee, Deputy Auditor-General Sylvester Kiini disclosed that the missing disbursements were discovered after a review of the nation’s debt.
The loans were committed for the 2022/23 fiscal year but have not yet been received, meaning that the initiatives for which they were budgeted have stalled or been abandoned.
“According to an examination of the National Treasury’s summary statement of debt stock as of June 30, 2022, a total of 106 loans denominated in various currencies had not been disbursed. “Seven of these loans had reached maturity before being disbursed,” Kiini told the Parliament.
During the hearing, Kiini informed the government that certain loans have penalties and commitment fees.
He did not disclose the reason for the delay in disbursements, which raises additional concerns about the nation’s borrowing.
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MPs have requested information from the AG’s office regarding the loans that have not been disbursed and those that will incur penalties.
The AG’s office has pledged to provide the parliamentary committee with information including the respective penalties for each loan and the total sum of each loan in local currency.
According to documents from the Treasury, the nation borrowed Ksh526 billion in loans from external markets during the 2022/23 fiscal year. 418 billion Kenyan shillings were borrowed from local institutions.
It is unclear whether the Ksh106 billion in the Treasury’s records represents loans.
Meanwhile, the administration of President William Ruto has lined up Ksh607 billion in loans for this fiscal year. The loans will be used to finance the Ksh3.6 trillion budget that was released on June 15.
The preponderance of the estimated Ksh270 billion in loans will come from financial institutions such as the World Bank and IMF.
Unraveling Ksh106B Missing Loan Mystery
