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IMF Programme for Kenya Sets Debt Targets While Including Social Spending Commitments
AllAfrica reported that a study by ActionAid, Education International and the Tax and Education Alliance reviewed IMF documents for Kenya and 10 other countries. External debt repayments took 28.7 percent of Kenyan government revenue, more than three times the share spent on health.
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A report published by ActionAid, Education International and the Tax and Education Alliance says the International Monetary Fund continues to emphasize debt repayment and fiscal targets in Kenya even as it endorses spending on health, education and social protection.
The study, titled Still Cooking with a Failed Recipe, examined 29 IMF policy documents for 11 countries between February 2022 and February 2025. Kenya is among the countries covered.
During the period, Kenya's external debt stood at about $39.7 billion, and external debt repayments accounted for 28.7 percent of government revenue, more than three times the share allocated to health. The report classifies Kenya as being at high risk of debt distress.
It notes that Kenya's IMF programme includes commitments to fund cash transfers for vulnerable groups, free primary and secondary education, school feeding programmes, universal health coverage and maternal healthcare, but argues that fiscal consolidation targets limit the scope to expand those programmes.
Kenya continues to implement reforms under its IMF programme while seeking to reduce the budget deficit, stabilise public debt and finance spending on healthcare, education and infrastructure. The IMF states that its policy advice is tailored to individual countries' economic circumstances and is intended to preserve macroeconomic stability while protecting priority social spending.
It adds that national governments retain the final authority over fiscal policy and tax decisions.
The report calls for changes to the global financial system, including new sovereign debt restructuring mechanisms and international tax reforms, to give developing countries greater fiscal space.
