Browsing: National Debt

Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar to receive U.S.$ 550 million in a concessional loan to improve its Maternal and Child Health programme. Photo/World Bank
  • U.S.$304.93 million will go to supportive programmes in sustainable rural water and sanitation
  • 300 million US dollars is the International Development Association (IDA) concessional loan
  • Another US$ 25 million is also part of the grant money, but this time from the Global Financing Facility for Women Children, and Adolescents Multi-Donor Trust Fund.

Tanzania is to receive U.S.$ 550 million in a concessional loan to improve its Maternal and Child Health programme.

The World Bank loan comes along with a side package of U.S.$ 29.93 million in grant money, the government has reported.

Finance Minister, Hon. Mwigulu Nchemba issued a statement to media specifying the funds’ planned disbursement as follows: U.S.$304.93 million will go to supportive programmes in sustainable rural water and sanitation and U.S.$275 million will go directly to maternal and child health programme.

Of this money, 300 million US dollars is the International Development Association (IDA) concessional loan and

LENDING

Kenya is heavily in debt; granted it is not the only East African country to find itself neck deep in debt but it certainly is the only one trying to raise the debt ceiling, every subsequent administration.

Last year, President Kenyatta appointed a new economist to lead the country’s National Treasury and just like his predecessor, his first order of business was to seek constitutional amendment so that the country could borrow more.

As of October 2019, Kenya’s legislators had been swayed to raise the country’s debt ceiling to USD 84.5 billion (Sh9 trillion). All is good when the money is flowing in, but when the roosters come home to roost and the cash flow takes an outward projector, the weight of it all starts to sink in.

That is where Kenya has found itself—smack in the middle of paying a whopping USD8.5 billion (Sh904.7 billion) in debt servicing. Even …