Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi during the quarterly diplomatic briefing with Heads of Mission and international organizations at a Nairobi hotel, April 8, 2025. /PCSKenya is preparing for fresh talks with the International Monetary Fund for a new funding programme following the lapse of the previous one signed in 2021, Prime CS Musalia Mudavadi has said.
He made the revelations on Tuesday after holding quarterly diplomatic briefing with Heads of Mission and international organisations at a Nairobi hotel.
Kenya's funding deal with the IMF, which involved an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangements, expired early April 2025, but the ninth review was abandoned, forcing the William Ruto-led Kenya Kwanza administration back to the negotiation table to strike a new deal.
"The new deal will focus on advancing the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) and aligning with the Kenya Kwanza government’s priority projects," Mudavadi said.
The just-ended IMF programme approved in April 2021, was designed to support Kenya's economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic and reduce debt vulnerabilities.
It involved a total financial commitment of about US$3.62 billion (Sh468bn), with about US$3.12 billion (Sh404bn) approved for disbursement.
The programme was extended in July 2023 to include a 20-month Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangement, but both Kenya and IMF agreed not to proceed with the ninth review of the EFF and ECF programmes.
The decision to abandon the ninth and final review was reached after Kenya failed to meet key targets under the programme.
IMF has, however, agreed to Kenya's formal request for a new programme with the fund indicating that it will engage with the Kenyan authorities over the matter.
The Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), which Mudavadi said the new programme will focus on is anchored on five core pillars of Agriculture, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) economy, Housing and Settlement, Healthcare, and Digital Superhighway and Creative Economy.
The government has reported progress across all the pillars, with the Lands, Public Works, Housing, and Urban Development CS Alice Wahome having said recently that plans were underway to release 5,000 affordable housing units to the public this April.
“Our mandate as the government is to ensure that Kenyans live in decent houses. The affordable housing programme is designed to fulfill the constitutional requirement under Article 43, which mandates the state to provide Kenyans with decent and affordable housing,” Wahome said on April 2.
