Public debt viable at 46%

KENYA’S public debt was sustainable at 46 percent of gross domestic product because much of it was supporting transport and other projects that would fuel growth, the head of the central bank said yesterday. The east African nation raised $2 billion (R22bn) in June from a debut euro bond issue, building on a domestic issuance programme that has seen it offer 30-year bonds and specialist instruments to fund new infrastructure, such as roads and railways. Analysts have said that a debt rate rising above 45 percent or 50 percent of economic output would put more pressure on the government to rein in spending. “The government is borrowing to roll out public investments,” said Njuguna Ndung’u, without giving a figure. – Reuters