File Image of President Ruto.
President William Ruto has maintained that his administration will borrow to grow the Kenyan economy.
Speaking on Sunday during interdenominational prayers in Narok President Ruto noted that borrowings will be slower than they were during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’ s administration.
He stated that he has set a limit of Sh600 billion for total borrowing this year.
“When I came in, we said we had to reduce borrowings; we have now cut Sh300 billion and we will continue to cut it every year until our budget is sustained by our own taxes, ” Ruto said.
Ruto defended his decision to take loans, which has totaled Sh 137 billion in the last three months, saying he will not be distracted by anyone.
“There are people who are spreading propaganda that the government is on a borrowing spree. I want to assure Kenyans that I have put a cap on carefree borrowing which the previous administration had initiated,” Ruto asserted.
“I slashed the amount and instructed that as a country, we will only borrow Ksh 600 billion,” he added.
The President also announced that he had launched a plan to wean Kenya off its reliance on external debts.
“In the coming years, we will continue to reduce the debt until we can finance our budget with revenue collected,”he said.
The Kenya Kwanza government announced that the Ksh 600 billion will be used to finish unfinished infrastructure projects.
According to Ruto, the amount to be borrowed from outside sources had already been approved by the previous administration.
Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro also chastised the media for allegedly misreporting the government’s borrowings.
Without naming names, Nyoro instead called for factual reporting, claiming that not even a quarter of the money claimed had been borrowed.
“When you want to write about loans it is good to tabulate for Kenyans to see, andika wenye wamekopesha, ile siku wamekopa na uandike ni pesa ngapi so that we have the correct information,” he said.
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