Kenya recently requested a successor program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) following the aborted 9th and final review of the country’s $3.6billion program with the IMF which elapsed in March.
New arrangement explained
Explaining the successor program, the Governor of Kenya’s Central Bank in an interview with Amboko Julians of Kenya’s Nation media Group revealed it is not necessary at this point that Kenya is granted exceptional access by the fund.
He also noted that Kenya is banking on its repayments to the IMF between 2025 & 2027 to free up space for another funding program with the IMF.
Kenya is banking on the fact its repayments between 2025 & 2027 would reduce the risk of it’s credit facility with the IMF be capped at $400m.
What next?
Kenya terminated its ongoing program with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Extended Credit Facility (ECF), which were set to end in April 2025 and requested the new program.
By forgoing its ongoing program with the IMF, Kenya is set to miss out on around $800m in payments under the canceled program.
If Kenya’s request to the IMF for a successor program scales through, the country is expected to start with another modest program with the IMF and continuously augment it as it makes repayments to the Fund.
