Kenyan Public Debt Sustainability

The downgrading of Kenya’s creditworthiness by global rating agency Moody’s in 2018; from B1 (seen as speculative and relatively risky) to B2 (judged to be speculative with a high credit risk) raised fears about the country’s high-risk perception particularly among foreign investors. This risk is underpinned by the country’s high but ‘sustainable’ public debt, currently estimated at more than KES 5.2 trillion (approx. USD 51.8 billion; 52.7% of GDP) in 2018.