Kenya secures 500-mln-USD loan from global banks

 NAIROBI, July 6 (Xinhua) 

 Kenya has secured about 70.4 billion shillings (about 500 million U.S. dollars) through a syndicated loan facility from several banks in Africa and Britain for budgetary support.

The East African nation borrowed the money in three-year and five-year medium-term loans from Citibank London, Rand Merchant Bank, the Standard Bank of South Africa and Standard Chartered Bank, according to a joint statement released by the banks Thursday.

 "The African Export-Import Bank joined the facility as a bookrunner and mandated lead arranger and its subscriptions allocated towards the longer term tranche," the statement said, noting that the achievement signifies continued confidence by investors in Kenya's economic recovery. 

"Kenya's economy has remained resilient, growing at 4.8 percent in 2022 compared to a growth of 7.6 percent in 2021. The growth slowdown is attributed to unprecedented two consecutive years of contraction in the agriculture sector occasioned by severe climate shocks."

Kenya's external debt stood at 35.5 billion dollars at the end of April, accounting for about half of its total public debt, according to the Central Bank of Kenya.