Topic: Kenya has Ksh 300bn debt under Kibaki's Presidency

Wow!!!...

Kenya has Sh300bn debt under Kibaki, says minister

Finance minister Njeru Githae has said Kenya has incurred a colossal Sh304 billion debt during the tenure of President Kibaki

By ALPHONCE SHIUNDU [email protected]
Posted Wednesday, June 27 2012 at 15:46



Finance minister Njeru Githae has said Kenya has incurred a colossal Sh304 billion debt during the tenure of President Kibaki.

The minister said Wednesday the borrowing spree that the country went into when President Kibaki took over was to improve the country’s infrastructure and to also grow the economy.

The minister submitted a schedule of the debts that include the controversial naval ship, the Nairobi-Thika super highway, the Sondu Miriu hydropower project, the Geothermal power, the e-government project and dozens of other programmes in the Treasury, the Ministries of Education, and the National Security Intelligence Service.

The money, the minister said, came from China, Japan, Korea the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Africa Development Bank, European Investment Bank, Saudi Development Fund, the International Development Association, the Arab Bank, among other creditors.

Mahmoud Sirat (Wajir South) had asked for the schedule to find out if President Kibaki’s administration had distributed the multibillion –shilling projects fairly all over the country.

Donor funds

“I confirm that the funded projects using donor funds are prioritised in line with the country’s development agenda and that they are distributed evenly in the country,” said Mr Githae.

The minister also told Parliament that the national public broadcaster was duped to buy “obsolete” equipment from Japan, an action that has left the broadcaster with a Sh22 billion hole in its books.

“The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation has never remitted a single cent to the lender. KBC has no money. It will be a waste of time to ask KBC to pay the loan,” said Mr Githae.

James Rege (Karachuonyo) sought to know if the minister had taken any steps to ensure that the KBC loan was either converted into a grant or written off. The minister said the Treasury was working on it.

“In my view, the Japanese just dumped all the equipment in the country because they were obsolete. In such a case, you don’t blame the lender, you blame the borrower. It is sad that Kenya bought obsolete equipment,” said Mr Githae

The loan from Japan for the Medium Wave (MW) equipment was a government guaranteed loan.

Initially, when the equipment was procured (in June 28, 1989), it was valued at Sh2.3 billion (16 billion Japanese Yen) at a rate of Sh7.4 cts/100 Yen and an interest of 2.5per cent which was payable semi-annually.

When the project was completed in 1994, the debt stood at Ksh 8.2 billion with an exchange rate of Sh54/ 100 Yen. The fluctuation of the exchange rates therefore caused the increase of the loan to Sh22 billion.

Kenya has Sh300bn debt under Kibaki, says minister*- Politics*|nation.co.ke

sawa na sh ngapi za tz?

Whooo...It's gigantic!! But in a way I think there's something pretentious on the ground to justify future repayments by generations of the time in Kenya. Whereas, Tanzania's relative debt is by a big margin a product of internal expenditure, or as Mh. Wassira may proudly put it - 'the oiling of machinery'! Well, how could future generations blithely justify its repayment on our part?!

Kenyans have something to show for the huge debt. lots of infrastructure projects completed or near completion.

By Ndumbayeye

sawa na sh ngapi za tz?

chukua 304x18= 5472 bilion kwa upande mwingine sawa na trillion 5.472 for ten years and they did is seen.
Kwetu hapa mpka Mkapa anaondoka madarakani deni la taifa lilikuwa chini au trillion 10, sasa Mkw.ere peke yake kaongeza trillion 12. Na miradi mingi wanayoisema Mkapa alikuwa ameiwekea hela tayari mfano MMEM umeanza 1999, MMES 2004, miradi mingi ya barabara, hadi mradi wa basi ya kasi Dar nakumbuka kama ni wa Mkapa, Udom ya Mkapa, maradi wa afya MMAM ni wa Mkapa. Sasa huyu jamaa yetu alichofanya sioni, Mradi wa maji ya ziwa victoria kwenda mikoa ya shinyanga na Tabora. Kwa hiyo asilimia kubwa ya hela kakopa na kuuza maliasili zetu kwa ajiri ya safari. Nipo tayari kurekebishwa.

If only Greece had managed its debt like Kenya, Europe would be in a much better shape today. Greece’s debt would stand at 45 per cent of GDP, less than a third of what it actually is.

Recent global economic history would need to be rewritten and Europe’s sick nation would be a macro-economic success with the luxury of deciding how to spend its resources well, rather than scrambling to mobilise them.

Kenya is one of many African countries that have managed to bring down their debt to sustainable levels over the last 10 years. Many benefited from debt relief in the process, but Kenya’s macro-economic success is home-made.

In 2003, Kenya’s debt stood at 60 per cent of GDP. Then, through prudent fiscal policies — particularly strong revenue mobilisation — and economic growth, it gradually brought the debt burden down to below 40 per cent of GDP by 2008.

Back in this comfort zone, it was able to respond to the global financial crisis, the post-election violence and a severe drought with fiscal stimulus.

The amount of debt relief Kenya received (through rescheduling in the 1990s) was trivial compared with the “hair-cut” Greece has been receiving. According to the International Monetary Fund, Kenya is on track to return to the 40 per cent mark within the next two to three years.

Debt dynamics are a key driver of global economic change over the last decade. A look at the G20 countries, which just met at their annual summit in Los Carbos, tells the story well.

In 2000, the debt of the richest economist (G7) amounted to 68 per cent of their cumulated GDP. Back then, emerging economies (the other 13 members of the G20) were doing better, with debt at 49 per cent.

Since then, the gap widened enormously. The advanced economies’ debt increased to 110 per cent, while emerging economies reduced theirs further to 36 per cent.

The EU remains the world’s largest economic bloc but prospects are grim. Disintegration of the euro could herald a replay of the Great Depression and an unravelling of the union.

Who would have thought, a decade ago, that many poor African countries, lambasted for their corruption, could teach Europe a lesson in macro-economics? In the eurozone, only Estonia and Luxemburg can boast lower debt-to-GDP ratios than Kenya.




..........read more

SOURCE

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania's government is expected to borrow heavily to pay for infrastructure project to drive its economy, but critics say this could worsen the country's national debt.
Tanzania is among the continent's biggest per capita aid recipients, and donors are an important source of hard currency.
Newly-appointed Finance Minister William Mgimwa will unveil his budget to parliament on June 14, focusing on five priorities including infrastructure, agriculture and industry.
The government's 15 trillion shilling budget proposals for the 2012/13 fiscal year (July-June) will raise spending by 11 percent.
"The government is expected to borrow money from the financial sector to raise some of the funds for the budget. This will likely worsen the national debt, squeeze the private sector and lead to higher interest rates," Honest Ngowi, an economics lecturer at Mzumbe University's Business School said.
"Some 10 trillion shillings of the budget will be spent on recurrent expenditure, with development projects allocated just 5 trillion shillings. This is a poor country, we need to spend more money on development projects."
The government has been struggling to tame double-digit inflation, which has pushed up the costs of living in east Africa's second-biggest economy.
Tanzania, Africa's fourth-biggest gold producer, targets average economic growth of 8-10 percent annually over the next five years, but has failed to spur job creation, leading to high youth unemployment. Continued...

Tanzania budget could worsen national debt | Reuters

Maybe your time will be well spent focusing on your issues!

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) is a group of 39 developing countries with high levels of poverty and debt overhang which are eligible for special assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.



AS LONG AS KENYA IS NOT ON THE LIST I AM FINE AND LOOK FORWARD FOR EVEN BETTER POLICIES!

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTE...469043,00.html

go go mekatilili this is great confront propaganda with hard facts. this is really a knock out punch inflicted on the enemy. i cant believe ab tichaz a full moderator blatantly and full of impunity take sides and has to always lead the charge and as usual face the full sledge hammer hit him and crash him like a pea

This happens only in Africa, corruption @ its best, why KBC is blaming the Japanese, don't they have competent Engineers who could check if the equipment is obsolete or not?...

The minister also told Parliament that the national public broadcaster was duped to buy “obsolete” equipment from Japan, an action that has left the broadcaster with a Sh22 billion hole in its books.

“In my view, the Japanese just dumped all the equipment in the country because they were obsolete. In such a case, you don’t blame the lender, you blame the borrower. It is sad that Kenya bought obsolete equipment,” said Mr Githae

By Nairoberry

go go mekatilili this is great confront propaganda with hard facts. this is really a knock out punch inflicted on the enemy. i cant believe ab tichaz a full moderator blatantly and full of impunity take sides and has to always lead the charge and as usual face the full sledge hammer hit him and crash him like a pea

Nairoberry,

Please for the umpteenth time, lemmie be. If you make your sojourn at JF about Ab-Titchaz you are in
for a long ride. ,Im not going nowhere FYI.

Kisha what do you mean, I'm taking sides?...which side may I ask?...I just posted an article which was in
the DN, quoting the Finance Minister bringing to light this colossal debt na wewe sasa unaleta side-shows.

Please stick to the thread and counter with facts. Threats about sledge hammers and peas will not suffice.

Good day to you Sir.

By Ab-Titchaz

Nairoberry,

Kisha what do you mean, I'm taking sides?...which side may I ask?...I just posted an article which was in
the DN, quoting the Finance Minister bringing to light this colossal debt na wewe sasa unaleta side-shows.

.

A side called Kenyan bashers, take a stock of the threads you are starting and proudly say they are not anti-Kenyan. They may not be your articles but you are guilty by association.

By Dhuks

A side called Kenyan bashers, take a stock of the threads you are starting and proudly say they are not anti-Kenyan. They may not be your articles but you are guilty by association.

Dhuks,

Good day to you too.

Very interesting angle you bring and I beg to respond.

There is nothing anti-kenyan about articles that come from fellow kenyans who hold a different opinion than your own.
I dont know how you can convince someone about that if you are trying to make logical sense. Take for example the
thread about the Thika Highway....there is all effort and purpose to paint that project in good light whilst at the same
time waxing lyrical about its architectural designs and how its the ish in town, yet Macharia Gaitho says this:

Let’s not gloat about building great roads until we venture out of Kenya



By MACHARIA GAITHO
Posted Monday, June 25 2012 at 18:05

Our people say that he who has never ventured out thinks that his mother is the best cook in the world.

That might be a lesson for Eng (Ughh, the titles all professionals carry these days!) Meshack Kidenda, the director-general of the Kenya National Highways Authority.

I recently read, on an online discussion forum, Mr Kidenda’s passionate defence of the “world class’ quality of Kenya roads.

My conclusion was that either he had never tasted anything other than mummy’s cooking, or he had never been to my neighbourhood.

The simple fact is that even allowing for that Nairobi-Thika “superhighway” we are all going gaga about, our roads are abysmal.

They were an insult to the science of highway engineering during the period of the cowboy contractors, and they still are an insult today when we are supposed to have kicked out all incompetent and corrupt gluttons.

Let


...Does the fellow above fit into your description of a Kenyan basher?

Lets stick to the issues if I may, and in this case, the question is how did KE get to that
point?...Were the projects that incurred this bill seen through ama they were white elephants?
How is debt going to be financed? How come KE keeps getting duped in this procurement deals?
Is it by design or is the system broke? Such what should be the focus of this discourse na sio
biashara za I'm Kenyan bashing.

^^ I think you get what you want in an article, you have already jumped into conclusion that Thika road is not world class and we have procurement issues out of it. My point is when you bring five articles of this nature we create a profile for you whether they are written by you or by Kenyan writers and that doesnt sit well with you being a mod.

As long as Kenya is not on the list below, we are happy! You sought to portray Kenya in a negative light based on screaming titles from Nation but it is evident economics is not you forte! Kenya has managed its debt extremely well and unlike Tanzania and other HIPC (Heavily indebted Poor Countries) we have not benefited from debt forgiveness. Instead we have invested heavily in infrastructure and together with strong macroeconomic policies have grown our economy and paid off our debt.

By Mekatilili

Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) is a group of 39 developing countries with high levels of poverty and debt overhang which are eligible for special assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.



AS LONG AS KENYA IS NOT ON THE LIST I AM FINE AND LOOK FORWARD FOR EVEN BETTER POLICIES!

Economic Policy and Debt - (HIPC) The Enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative

By Dhuks

A side called Kenyan bashers, take a stock of the threads you are starting and proudly say they are not anti-Kenyan. They may not be your articles but you are guilty by association.

hahaha, mate, ati guilty by association? hehe, u are being modest with words. The guy is as rogue as they come... GUILTY ALL THE WAY. Havent you seen an open air threat to a member for a difference in opinion?

Dhuks na livefire nawaheshimu sana, tafadhali naomba muache hii biashara ya kujifanya victims kila ishu ya Kenya inapowekwa mezani. Viongozi wetu ndio wanatuaribia nchi zetu. Lazima tukubali na kuachan na haya mambo ya kuwa blind patriots, kwani hayatatufikisha mahala popote. Yaani sasa mtu yeyote anaye-post habari za Kenya hapa ni adui yenu?? then hakuna maana ya hata nyie kuwa hapa. FYI hii forum haiko hapa kwa ajili ya kutetea/kufagilia Serikali yeyote ya EAC kama hamuamini na mnajua vizuri lugha ya Kishwahili nawashauri zuruni kule Jukwaa la Siasa ndio mtaelewa moods za watu wa humu ndani...

Interpretation iliyopo hapa kwa sasa inaonekana kuwa nyie mnaokataa kukosoa serikali yenu kwa kila jambo ni watu ambao mnanufaika na hiyo system. Jamani lets be RATIONAL.

By Ab-Titchaz

Such what should be the focus of this discourse na sio
biashara za I'm Kenyan bashing.

If you were honest with yourself, you know that that's exactly what you're doing. Every time you open a thread, or contribute to one e ven, about Kenya it's to point out something negative about Kenya/ns. I understand that among your compatriots, that puts you in good company but you shouldn't be surprised when WE point it out.

If you had a neighbour who, every time they spoke to you, was saying negative things about your family (true or not)...what would you think of them?

By Bantugbro

Dhuks na livefire nawaheshimu sana, tafadhali naomba muache hii biashara ya kujifanya victims kila ishu ya Kenya inapowekwa mezani. Viongozi wetu ndio wanatuaribia nchi zetu. Lazima tukubali na kuachan na haya mambo ya kuwa blind patriots, kwani hayatatufikisha mahala popote. Yaani sasa mtu yeyote anaye-post habari za Kenya hapa ni adui yenu?? then hakuna maana ya hata nyie kuwa hapa. FYI hii forum haiko hapa kwa ajili ya kutetea/kufagilia Serikali yeyote ya EAC kama hamuamini na mnajua vizuri lugha ya Kishwahili nawashauri zuruni kule Jukwaa la Siasa ndio mtaelewa moods za watu wa humu ndani...

Interpretation iliyopo hapa kwa sasa inaonekana kuwa nyie mnaokataa kukosoa serikali yenu kwa kila jambo ni watu ambao mnanufaika na hiyo system. Jamani lets be RATIONAL.

Stop being arrogant...did it ever occur to you that Kenyans might know more about Kenya than you do? Eti sasa those Kenyans who disagree with you are being "blind patriots" as if wewe tu ndiye unayejua the real situation in Kenya hata kushinda wakenya wenyewe such that your (negative) opinions on Kenya should become unassailable? Nonsense!

No Kenyan here thinks that all Tanzanians who post habari za Kenya ni adui but there's several of you (with you being a prime member of this group) who have exhibited nothing but malicious hatred towards Kenya on every post you make about the country. We will call you out when you do it!

Bantugbro
Aha..Aha...Aha..!! what do we have here.... I can see old foes have started trotting back here with their usual zeal. I wouldn't be surprised if I see more of you and the usual crew(Geza, you and Askari kanzu). hatutofautiani kwa sababu kuna mvutano kati ya Kenya na tanzania lakini kwa sababu facts ambazo munajaribu kupresent hapa kuhusu Kenya are not factual na ziko biased sana na sensetionalism nyingi. You and I know that Kenya imepiga hatua kubwa katika rate ya upeperushaji wa habari hewani na ndio unakuta wengi wenu wana miliki information kibao kuhusu kinachojiri kenya na mazingara yake within an instant. Inawezekana kuna deni hilo la Ksh 300bn lakini hatushindi kwenye miguu ya makaburu na bakuli mikononi tukiomba pesa za miradi ambazo kandarasi zake mwishowe hazidhihirishi matunda.

But hatua kenya imepiga kwenye miradi za social and human development. Mfano CDF ambao ndio ya kwanza aina yake AM. Kuna mengi pia kama ruzuku watakopata vinyanya na vikongwe. Elimu ya bure ambao imekuwa subsidized kwa Mkenya yeyote na sehemu ya pesa inayotolewa na serikali kuendesha shughuli ya elimu inapotelea mikononi mwa wachache. Mradi tutaweka misingi kama hii ndio itakuwa a step in the right direction. Lakini kama ilivyo desturi ya wabunge au wanasiasa, wamezima kimaksudi kelezea jamii umuhimu wa mabo haya na wanatumia negative reports kusaza ushirikiano na umoja katika jamii.

............Na haya ndio matunda mabovu ya siasa.