Following the Zambian playbook, ill-informed rate cap, vanity projects. Premium tears coming up shortly

Wow! We had this case study to learn from, and still went down that path? Then perhaps a default on our Eurobonds is inevitable too, down the line.

NAIROBI, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Kenya has changed its mind about a G20 coronavirus debt relief initiative it declined to join earlier this year, and is now planning to defer around $690 million in debt payments, its finance minister told Reuters on Wednesday.

Kenya had said in May that it would not seek suspension of debt payments under the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), aimed at helping poor countries weather the COVID-19 pandemic, as it found the terms too restrictive.

“We have been reluctant in the past because of the attendant unintended consequences in terms of those holding private debt,” Finance Minister Ukur Yatani said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL1N2I411M

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have forced Kenya to take a Sh75 billion coronavirus debt relief from wealthy nations as a pre-condition for accessing cheap loans.

Kenya is now planning to defer around $690 million (Sh75 billion) in debt payments as it seeks further funding from the Bretton Woods institutions for budget support to weather the coronavirus economic hardships.

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani reckons that Kenya made a U-turn in seeking a suspension of debt payments under a G20 initiative due to pressure from the Bretton Woods institutions.

A restrictive clause in the Eurobond terms stopped Kenya from seeking a suspension of debt payments because it could have forced the country to pay the entire Eurobond debt worth $6.1 billion (Sh652.7 billion).

Besides the Eurobond terms, the Treasury was fretful that the relief could hurt the country’s credit rating and be viewed as one that does not meet its international obligations.

“They (World Bank and IMF) are trying to introduce this as one of the key prerequisites to accessing resources from the IMF and World Bank,” Mr Yatani told Reuters.
https://www.businessdail...5bn-debt-relief-3204412

It looks like Washington is serious about buying the Chinese loan book and getting Kenya away from the Chinese orbit. Echoes of the '97 Asian financial crisis

https://t.co/uNLYi9JBNp?amp=1

China will not finance anymore infrastructure projects in Kenya and Africa....repayments is now the priority

“Alongside Mr Xi in successive portraits were the authoritarian leaders of countries with big debts and “junk” credit ratings such as .....Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya..”

https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/markets/capital-markets/cash-in-kenyans-pockets-jumps-to-19-month-high-3231412

Recovery underway

why so pessimistic?

If you read the article, there is a very very funny assumption made to make the claim.
Money leaving peoples bank accounts = cash held by the people in homes..Obviously such a claim would be true if kenyans only spent money in kenya. Some take the money and buy cars outside Kenya, some pay loans outside kenya...so when you use that assumption to come up with an article like that, it says more about the writer than it says about the cash in pocket.

Me when cash leaves my account, I typically dont have it under my bed or in a box in the house.