World Bank to offer Kenya $ 750 million concessional loan

NAIROBI, Kenya - The World Bank Group will offer Kenya a $750 million concessional loan come June 2023. This was revealed by Prof Njuguna Ndung’u, Cabinet Secretary National Treasury during the launch of the 2023 – 2028 Country Partnership Framework between the government and the World Bank.

This is part of the global lender’s Development Policy Operation (DPO) framework, which has seen the countries access $3.25 billion.

Prof Ndung’u, “During the current IDA-20 cycle, the government has lined up an additional DPO of approximately $750.0 million for the current financial year. The proposed package under discussion with the World Bank aims at promoting sustainable, resilient, and inclusive growth. This will also promote human capital development as a major input to economic growth.”

Prof Ndung’u further indicated that the government had been negotiating a $1 billion financing package but the World Bank stayed put at $750 million.

The DPO is a framework through which the World Bank supports a member country’s program of policy and institutional actions geared towards promoting growth and sustainable poverty reduction.

Under the DPO terms, Kenya was required to establish an electronic procurement platform for the public sector for more transparency and to weed out corruption.

The other requirement for Kenya was to carry out reforms at the state power provider - Kenya Power and the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF).

The National Treasury has said that accessing low-cost financing under the World Bank’s DPO framework aligns with ongoing efforts to steer Kenya towards a more sustainable fiscal path.

GAROWE ONLINE