Kenya Airways' guaranteed loan debt is set to increase by KES1.43 billion shillings (USD10 million) or 10% from KES14.68 billion (USD104.1 million) to KES16.10 billion (USD114.1 million), according to a report by the government's Debt and Privatisation Committee.
The increase is due to a KES186.43 million (USD1.3 million) rise in interest payments and KES1.24 billion (USD8.7 million) in principal payments, says the committee in its June 29 report on the Consolidated Fund Service expenditures under the Financial Year 2022/23 revised supplementary estimates submitted to Parliament on June 14. The committee's role is to oversee debt management and government guarantees, monitor public-private partnerships, and manage the privatisation of national assets, amongst other things.
This is the second increase in repayment from an earlier rise of KES12.41 billion (USD88 million) in the first supplementary budget estimate for the financial year 2022/23. Cumulatively, the report says this translates into a single-year increase of KES13.84 billion (USD98.1 million) or 611%.
The committee warns that while the government is expected to meet its obligations related to the guaranteed debt, these should be planned to avoid budget disruptions that may be caused by large expenditure increases during the year.
Kenya Airways owes a total of KES57.77 billion (UDS409.7 million) on its USD525 million loan from the Private Export Funding Corporation of the US, which the EXIM Bank (United States of America) and the Kenyan government guaranteed.
