(SomaliNet) Kenya is not among the second group of 11 countries that will enjoy debt relief having been excluded in the new list compiled by a joint committee of the bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Kenya has once again failed to be considered for debt relief under the World Bank sponsored Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Sudan and Somalia however, have qualified for consideration and the boards of the World Bank and IMF sitting in Washington are expected to approve the move in September this year.
Mean while, Central African Republic, Comoros, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Togo, Eritrea, Haiti, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Nepal are among other countries that have qualified for the relief.Like her neighbouring Uganda and Tanzania that were the first to qualify late last year, Kenya has waged a spirited campaign to be included in the debt waiver programme.
In a meeting with representatives of donor agencies a fortnight ago in Nairobi, the Kenya’s Planning minister, Henry Obwocha, pleaded with them to consider the country for the debt waiver. Obwocha argued that the country was spending over 15 per cent of the ordinary revenues collected through taxes to service the public debt.Much as Kenya is servicing a Sh300 billion domestic debt that accrued through the sale of Treasury Bills and Bonds, foreign debt is estimated at Sh400 billion.
Obwocha said a waiver of the debts would free more resources to meet the globally accepted Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that include reducing the number of people living under abject poverty by 2015.