Kenya ‘not running after IMF for loan’
Country is not on the ropes, says central bank governor, while domestic economy grows amid worsening global conditions
Nairobi — Kenya is in no rush to secure a new standby credit facility with the IMF as its economy continues to show strength, central bank governor Patrick Njoroge said on Thursday. The country’s previous $989.8m arrangement expired in September 2018 after the government failed to meet the IMF’s conditions for an extension, including the repeal of a cap on commercial lending. Njoroge said Kenya was in talks with the IMF on a new standby programme but was not desperate for one. “It’s not that we are on the ropes, [that] the economy is on the ropes and we need the IMF to come and sort us out,” Njoroge told reporters. “The point here is, maybe the sense of desperation wasn’t there, which maybe some people thought we were definitely desperate. So I think people need to chill.” He offered no timeline for an agreement to be reached but said conversations would continue during the IMF’s meetings in April. Inflation expectations On Wednesday, the central bank kept its benchmark lending rate...
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