Austerity: Subdued Kenya’s President Ruto caves in to nationwide protests against state extravagance
Austerity measures will include the dissolution of 47 state corporations, a 50 per cent reduction in the number of government advisers, the suspension of non-essential travel by public office bearers and the removal of budget lines for the president and deputy president’s spouses, he said.
Economist Owino succeeds Sirima at Central Bank of Kenya as head of debt management office
Kenya’s public finances were in focus early this year because of concerns it could default over a $2 billion international bond, and more recently because of violent protests that forced President William Ruto to withdraw planned tax hikes.
Revealed: Desperate Kenya’s President Ruto calls IMF boss after being forced to recall contentious tax plan
Analysts say its withdrawal a week ago is likely to result in Kenya missing key programme targets, although the government does not urgently need cash from the IMF after it was able this year to repay a bond that was originally worth $2 billion by issuing a new seven-year bond.
PMI: Kenya’s private sector activity shrinks in June as a result of cost-of-living crisis, protests
The Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 47.2 in June from 51.8 in May. Readings below 50.0 signal contraction.
Media fact-check of claims linking Covid vaccines to cancer deaths results in retraction of peer-reviewed study
The researchers found a 2.1 per cent mortality increase in 2021 and a 9.6 per cent increase In 2022. They determined that age-adjusted death rates for leukemia, breast, pancreatic and lip/oral/pharyngeal cancers increased significantly in 2022 after a large portion of the Japanese population had received the third dose of an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine.
Nigeria prides itself as Africa’s biggest economy but its schools, businesses and homes have no electricity
Studies have shown that Nigeria could generate much more electricity than it needs from solar energy thanks to its powerful sunshine. But 14 grid-scale solar projects in the northern and central parts of the country that could generate 1,125 megawatts of electricity have stalled since contracts were signed in 2016.
Kenya heads back into red zone after tax bill turmoil that complicates relations with IMF
Kenya’s sovereign dollar bonds slid after Ruto’s U-turn. Morgan Stanley said that with Eurobond yields back above 10 per cent, Kenya had limited access to international bonds, which could push them to borrow more locally.
Wealthy nations say debt crisis risk that overshadowed global economy for four years is receding
The Paris Club, made of 22 official creditor nations, said the return of Sub-Saharan African countries to Eurobond markets this year, a stabilisation in low-income country debt levels and a potential peak in global interest rates gave cause of optimism.
Millions of young Kenyans defy government warning and hold protests against punitive taxes
Organisers have also called for a general strike against the finance bill, which aims to raise an additional $2.7 billion in taxes as part of an effort to tame public debt that ballooned over the past decade.
Why Indians and Africans pay $72,000 to be smuggled to the US on chartered flights
Charter flights represent a new phase of illegal immigration to the US, five US officials said in interviews with Reuters. Increasingly, they said, migrants from outside Latin America are paying smuggling networks hefty fees for travel packages that can include airline tickets – on charter and commercial airlines – to fly to Central America and then bus rides and hotel stays en route to the US-Mexico border.
