President William Ruto expressed confidence that Kenya will emerge victorious from its debt burden after rolling out a raft of fiscal measures to avoid default.
Speaking while receiving the Jukwaa la Usalama report on Tuesday in State House, Nairobi, the Head of State lamented the ballooning national debt but also maintained that his policies were paying off.
Ruto stated that Kenya had earlier been signalled as one of the African countries that could be overwhelmed by debt. However, with countermeasures, the East African country is now ranked as the sixth-largest economy in Africa.
“Today I can confidently tell you our economy is in sound footing. Had I not made those decisions, we would be among the countries that defaulted their debts,” he noted.
“Foreign reserves had reduced to $5.7 billion and everybody believed Kenya will not be able to pay its debt. I sat in an office called number 6 with some people and agreed that we cannot be the country to default and I had to make very difficult decisions.”
Ruto further alleged that the measures had reduced Kenya’s inflation significantly and increased dollar reserves to $12.1 billion, the highest level in national history.
“Inflation has gone from 9.6 to 4.6, the dollar has recovered from Ksh 167 to Ksh 129,” he said adding “…the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term benefits.”
In its October 2025 World Economic Outlook (WEO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) ranked Kenya sixth as it projected 2026 GDP for Africa’s largest economies.
