Kenya: Technical Assistance Report-Report on Data Quality Assessment for Public Sector Debt Statistics Mission (July 23-29, 2025)

Technical Assistance Reports, April 10, 2026

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Canonical URL: Kenya: Technical Assistance Report-Report on Data Quality Assessment for Public Sector Debt Statistics Mission (July 23-29, 2025)

Assessment undertaken in July 2025 using the IMF’s Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF) for PSDS.
Initiative funded by the Government of Japan to strengthen the quality of public sector debt data in select African countries.
Assessment objective: evaluate Kenya’s public sector debt statistics (PSDS) and provide findings and recommendations to broaden scope and improve alignment with international statistical standards.

Kenya’s public debt is considered sustainable but remains at high risk of debt distress, according to the IMF-World Bank debt sustainability analysis (DSA) of October 2024.
The public debt-to-GDP ratio reached a peak of 72 percent at the end of the 2022/23 fiscal year.
Debt-to-GDP levels dropped to 66 percent of GDP at the end of the 2023/24 fiscal year, according to national debt reports.
Around half of the total debt stock is external, mainly provided on concessional terms, and the other half is domestic.
Two key challenges for the authorities:
- Managing the exchange rate risk of external debt.
- Managing the high-interest rate cost of domestic debt.
Overall assessment: Kenya’s public debt statistics are broadly accurate and timely, but scope and methodological enhancements are needed.

Need to expand coverage to comprehensively capture:
- The non-guaranteed borrowing of public units outside of central government.
- The stock of other accounts payable (pending bills).
Review of public-private partnerships (PPPs) and securitization operations is required to ensure all related debts are captured.

Enhancements needed to align compilation and dissemination with international statistical standards, specifically:
- Reporting external and domestic debt based on the residency of the creditor/investor.
- Providing more comprehensive and accessible metadata that explains data sources, coverage, compilation methods, concepts, and definitions.

Expand reporting coverage to include non-guaranteed borrowing of public units outside central government.
Include the stock of other accounts payable (pending bills) in public sector debt statistics.
Review PPPs and securitization operations to ensure full capture of related debts.
Reclassify and report external and domestic debt according to creditor/investor residency.
Produce and disseminate more comprehensive metadata on sources, coverage, compilation methods, concepts, and definitions to improve transparency and user understanding.