A person counting Kenyan money.[Photo/SoftKenya]
Kenya’s private sector foreign debt stands at Sh586.8 billion.This is according to the first-ever survey of such liabilities.A survey done by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows the debt increased from Sh583 billion in 2014, a marginal change of 0.6 per cent.In early 2016, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had estimated that external private sector debt stood at 13-15 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).This was an equivalent of about Sh850 billion.“The stock of private sector external debt (PSED) increased from Sh583.005 billion in 2014 to Sh586.765 billion in 2015,” said the survey. The debt was mainly driven by long-term loans.The US, China, UK and France were the main source countries, collectively accounting for 41.7 per cent in 2015 compared to 36.6 per cent the previous year. The proportion attributable to international financial organisations averaged 27.5 per cent during the review period.