NAIROBI, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's domestic debt rose by 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in the second quarter of this year to hit 25 billion dollars, latest data from the Central Bank indicated Monday.
The debt stood at 24.9 billion dollars at the end of June, up from 23.4 billion dollars in March on account of accelerated borrowing.
The government, during the period, intensified borrowing through Treasury bills and bonds, with the latter being sold again through tap sales after initial offers.
In April, May and June, the government put up for sale Treasury bonds worth 1.2 billion dollars, or 400 million dollars each month.
However, uptake of the bonds during the period was lackluster as compared to Treasury bills, which attracted huge interest from investors in search of higher yields.
The rise in domestic debt put Kenya's overall public debt at slightly above 50 billion dollars, with external debt standing at 25.1 billion dollars.
However, according to analysts, the buildup in domestic debt in the second half of the year is expected to slow down.
"The government is likely to remain behind its borrowing target for the better part of the first half of the financial year. The 2018/2019 budget gives a domestic borrowing target of 2.72 billion dollars, 8.6 percent lower than the 2017/2018 fiscal year's target of 2.97 billion dollars, which would result in reduced pressure on domestic borrowing," Cytonn, a Nairobi-based investment firm, said in a brief on Monday.
