Connect with us

VenturesNow

Kenya’s Ruto reveals plans for Eurobond buyback in Feb/March

Published

on

President William Ruto of Kenya told journalists on Tuesday that the country was trying to buy back at least some of its $2 billion Eurobond in February or March, putting an end to any possibility that it would default.

Kenya’s capacity to repay the bond, which matures in June, has come under scrutiny due to declining hard currency reserves, a sharp decline in the value of the local currency, and revenue difficulties.

Ruto said that although the government’s transaction consultants had eventually advised against it, Kenya would buy back $300 million of the Eurobond before the end of 2023, as he had assured the parliament in November.

“What they have recommended is that we do a buyback in February or March, and then we go to the market,” he said in an interview in Rome on the sidelines of the Italy-Africa summit.

“Thank God they were right. In fact, the markets have opened for Kenya, as they have for most other countries,” Ruto said.

The yields on dollar bonds issued by frontier nations have begun to decline in recent months, following a two-year surge driven by worries about high interest rates and heavy debts in advanced economies. With two oversubscribed bonds this month, Ivory Coast was able to raise $2.6 billion.

 

Additionally, as previously announced, Ruto stated that the government was no longer depending on the Trade and Development Bank (TDB), an organisation that provides development funding in Africa, to arrange a $1 billion syndicated loan for Kenya.

 

The remaining monies had not yet been provided, according to the finance minister of Kenya, who stated earlier this month that TDB had lent Kenya $210 million of the total.

“Because of the situation that we now see in the market, we believe that it would be a lot easier for us to raise that money in the market rather than through syndication,” Ruto said.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

VenturesNow

Nigerian banks close over two million accounts

Published

on

At least two million bank accounts have been closed by different commercial banks in Nigeria following the failure of their owners to update and link them to the National Identity Number (NIN) and the Biometric Verification Number (BVN).

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had, in December 2023, issued a directive to all commercial banks in the country to restrict Tier-1 accounts without proper BVN, and NIN, that are not linked by March 1st, 2024.

The move by the apex bank, was aimed at eradicating questionable accounts, particularly as some customers failed to comply with regulatory orders on the linkage of their accounts to the NIN, BVN and other requirements.

According to a statement on Wednesday by the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), the decision to close the accounts was arrived at following the expiration of the CBN deadline.

The NIBSS also indicated that the number of inactive bank accounts grew month-on-month by four million or 2.0 percent to 19.7 million in March 2024 from 19.3 million in the previous month which necessitated a weeding of the process.

The NIBSS, however, indicated that the number of active bank accounts in the country grew by 6.62 million or 3.0 percent to 219.64 million from 213.02 million in February.

Continue Reading

VenturesNow

Kenya: President Ruto assured of fresh IMF disbursement

Published

on

This would help the economy, which is getting better after avoiding a debt problem earlier this year.

Since the government released a $1.5 billion Eurobond in February, Kenya’s shilling has recovered from record lows. This was done to calm the market’s fears of a possible default on a $2 billion bond that matures in June.

The problems with the currency, high inflation, and new taxes meant to close budget gaps have all made living costs go up, which has led to anger and some protests.

Kenya has been able to get through a liquidity problem thanks to strong loans from the IMF and the World Bank. The East African country got an extra $941 million in loans from the IMF in January. This brought its total deal with the fund to $4.43 billion, with about $2.5 billion still due.

A source quoted by Reuters claimed the IMF officials would be in Kenya on May 9 for a review that would allow a $1 billion tranche to be released.

“That process is going on very well,” he said in the interview on Monday, adding that talks between the Kenyan minister of finance and the IMF in Washington during the World Bank/IMF spring meeting earlier this month were “extensive, very successful”. The IMF has not commented on the ongoing review.

Still, Ruto kept his promise to cut spending by 12% in the next fiscal year, from 4.2 trillion shillings to 3.7 trillion shillings.

It is expected that the budget deficit will go down from 4.9% of gross domestic product (GDP) this fiscal year to 3.9% of GDP in the 2024/25 fiscal year (17 July–June).

Earlier on Monday, Ruto and other African heads of state asked rich countries to lend record amounts to a low-interest World Bank facility for developing nations. They said that these countries were facing climate and debt problems that were getting worse.

“We want a fair international financial architecture,” Ruto said.

Continue Reading

EDITOR’S PICK

Tech10 hours ago

Nigeria’s food delivery startup Chowdeck raises $2.5m to optimise operations

Nigeria’s on-demand food delivery startup, Chowdeck, has announced securing the sum of $2.5 million in seed funding that will enable...

Culture10 hours ago

Ghanaians celebrate return of Asante Gold artefacts looted by British

Ghanaians, especially those from the ancient Asante region, have been in joyous mood as they flocked to the Manhyia Palace...

Sports10 hours ago

Why Zambia’s women national team could miss Olympics

Zambia’s women national football team is on the verge of missing out on playing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games....

Metro15 hours ago

Religious leader, Luchile, notes improvements in media freedom but faults online media abuse

In this ongoing conversation to amplify voices on media freedoms, freedom of speech, and digital rights, we feature, Maxwell Luchile,...

Video16 hours ago

Video: Uganda’s Museveni urges African leaders to verify true motives behind IMF, W’Bank loans

In this video, Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, urged African leaders to verify the true intentions of multilateral lending institutions towards...

VenturesNow20 hours ago

Nigerian banks close over two million accounts

At least two million bank accounts have been closed by different commercial banks in Nigeria following the failure of their...

Tech1 day ago

Tanzania’s horticultural industry gets $2.1m grant from TradeMark Africa to boost market expansion

The Tanzanian horticultural industry has recieved a grant of $2.1 million from TradeMark Africa to enable it boost its market...

Culture1 day ago

South African Jazz great Abdullah Ibrahim to embark on world tour at age 90

Renowned South African jazz master and pianist, Abdullah Ibrahim, is set to embark on an unprecedented world tour to celebrate...

Sports1 day ago

Kenya unveils ‘killer-squad’ for Paris Olympics marathon Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic

Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games kicking off in July, Kenya has unveiled a “killer-squad” for the marathon event....

Tech2 days ago

Civil society group says planned online regulation under IBA Act, an affront on media freedom (Video)

Chapter One Foundation Executive Director, Linda Kasonde, says the planned online regulation under the new Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) Act...

Trending