Kenya: Public Debt Hits 12.82 Trillion Shillings, Controller of Budget Warns

For several years, Kenya has financed a growing share of its budget through borrowing, on both international and domestic markets, to cover a recurring budget deficit and fund infrastructure and public services. This dynamic already fueled popular unrest in 2024 against a finance bill seen as imposing excessive new taxes to service the debt. Addressing Parliament, Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o revealed that Kenya's public debt has now reached Sh12.82 trillion. According to her, debt servicing consumes 71 percent of government revenue, leaving only 29 percent to fund civil servants' salaries, public services and development projects. This ratio drastically narrows Nairobi's fiscal room: fewer resources for health, education or infrastructure, a heightened risk of further tax hikes, and continued dependence on international creditors, with direct consequences for Kenyan citizens and businesses. This borrowing trap combines internal factors -structural reliance on debt to cover recurring deficits, budgetary management under strain- with external ones -high global interest rates, shilling depreciation raising the cost of foreign-currency debt. A situation that brings Kenya closer to other African economies facing similar strains on fiscal sustainability.