Nairobi — The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Patrick Njoroge has lauded President Ruto's directive to the Treasury and ministries to save some Sh300billion to help reduce the country's debt burden and the overdependence on borrowing.
Speaking during the post- Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) press conference, the CBK governor noted that the cut on expenditures is a good move and he looks forward to its implementation.
"That Sh300billion will reduce that deficit from where it is now. That number 6 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the one that will actually be shorter. A key point of debt consolidation and bringing debt under control is actually a credible, sustainable fiscal consolidation. To the extent that we have a sustainable decrease in the deficit that will bond well with bringing back the path of debt into a sustainable line" said Njoroge.
Ruto made the pronouncement Thursday September 9 during his maiden speech to the joint parliamentary sitting of the Senate and the National Assembly.
"To this end, I have instructed the National Treasury to work with ministries to find savings of Sh300billion in this year's budget. Next year, we will bring it further down so that by the third year, we have a recurrent budget surplus," said the head of state.
The CBK governor also reminded the digital lenders whose requests had not been approved to resolve their issues as quickly as possible for them to be licensed.
He noted that the regulation of the sector is very essential because if it is not done, the implications such as social costs will be very significant.
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"It is true we approved 10 from the total of 288 we had. The others (278) are at different stages in the process. We urge them to quickly deal with the issues that we had pointed out to them. There are different issues, each one specific to what it is. But I think the point here is we will not provide them with a license unless they actually adhere to the specific requirements that are required in the Act," he said.
He stated that the regulator needs to know how they deal with their customers and have an assurance that their methods of collection are ethical.
"We are interested in their business model. One could also say things related to their source of capital. Also, to understand who are the people who are running these operations. These are all the requirements that should be standard and I want to remind them to do what they need to do quickly, let them resolve those issues, come back to us quickly and we can then move on with licensing them," added Njoroge.
The digital credit providers that have been licensed pursuant to the CBK Act and regulations are Ceres Tech Limited, Kweli Smart Solutions Limited, Giando Africa Limited, Jijenge Credit Limited and Getcash Capital Limited.
Others are Sokohela Limited, Rewot Ciro Limited, MyWagepay Limited, Mwanzo Credit Limited and Sevi Innovation Limited.
