IMF reaches deal with Kenya to raise current financing by $938 million

The International Monetary Fund has reached a staff-level agreement with Kenya for immediate access of $682.3 million and an increase in its current program’s funding by $938 million, the fund said on Thursday.

Uncertainty over the East African nation’s ability to access financial markets was exerting substantial pressure on liquidity, primarily due to a sizeable Eurobond, worth $2 billion, which is maturing in 2024, the fund said.

If approved by the IMF’s executive board, Kenya will have access to a total of $3.88 billion, which would bring its total funding under the existing Extended Fund Facility and Extended Credit Facility arrangements to $4.43 billion.

That will include a new augmentation to Kenya’s access under the financing program by an equivalent amount of $938 million.

The facility was bumped up in May by an extra $1 billion, including $544 million under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), and a new arrangement under the same RSF.

Sovereign debt investors are paying close attention to the dollar bond that is maturing next June, amid persistent weakness in its foreign exchange rate that is weighing on Kenya’s hard currency reserves.

SOURCE: REUTERS