00:00 Yesterday marked a significant financial milestone for Kenya as we successfully settled the buyback
00:08 of a substantial part of the US dollars 2 billion 2014 euro bonds that were scheduled
00:14 to mature on the 24th of June 2024 by paying US dollars 1.5 billion raised on 12th February
00:25 2024.
00:29 The successful execution of both the buyback and the new bond issue demonstrates strong
00:36 investor confidence in Kenya through the international capital markets and a vote of confidence in
00:43 the government's overall economic management, particularly our public debt management strategy.
00:52 It is also a most important culmination of a determined turnaround policy from an initial
00:58 state in August 2022 characterized by simultaneous reduction of revenues as a percentage of GDP
01:07 and the increase of debt as a percentage of GDP resulting in fiscal deficit which led
01:15 to unsustainable expansion of Kenya's debt stock.
01:22 External factors such as adverse development in the international monetary system and the
01:30 disruptions in the supply chains further compounded the situation resulting in a steady weakening
01:37 of the Kenya shilling.
01:40 Upon assuming office, we committed to bring our economy back on track by taking necessary
01:47 measures, making necessary choices and outright sacrifices to raise revenue, reduce expenditure
01:56 and basically make sure that our nation lives within its means.
02:02 We have pursued a turnaround strategy focused on increasing our tax revenue and reducing
02:08 both spending and the rate of debt accumulation.
02:12 Through this process, we have been guided by the principles and values of equity, fairness
02:20 and prudence in public spending without sacrificing priority social and development spending.
02:29 In the interest of sound debt management, we have implemented a combination of strategies
02:35 including the diversification of financing sources, smoothening the maturity profiles
02:41 and proactively managing our debt liabilities in general, maintaining a low cost of debt
02:47 and ensuring that debt is sustainable at all times.
02:55 I am delighted to announce that our sacrifices and determined efforts have not been in vain.
03:02 As a consequence of our commitment to sound debt management strategy, fiscal and general
03:08 economic management policies and the tightening of our monetary policy by the Central Bank
03:12 of Kenya, investor confidence has been significantly enhanced, resulting in the appreciation of
03:19 the Kenya shilling against the US dollar from an average of 162 shillings to an average
03:27 of 142 shillings at the moment.
03:30 In turn, this has reduced our overall debt by Kenya shillings 722 billion and also reduced
03:40 our debt service costs by Kenya shillings 195 billion over the next years, saving the
03:47 country a total of almost a trillion Kenya shillings.
03:51 Thank you.
03:52 [END]
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