Kenyan President William Ruto has asserted that the country will borrow more to stop a growing budget deficit after the finance bill was rejected.
After deadly protests ensued, Ruto declined to sign the bill, which would have increased tax revenue.
In a televised interview, Ruto lamented that the bill’s rejection had significantly worsened the government’s struggle to reduce the country’s debt burden. About 60% of Kenya’s revenue is currently used to service debts.
He stated that lenders are required to provide one trillion Shillings ($7.6 billion) to pay for social services and other programs in Kenya.
The proposed new taxes, which could have potentially raised about $2.7 billion, were unfortunately rejected.
Protesters stormed Kenya’s parliament and set sections of it on fire after lawmakers unanimously approved the finance bill.
The protesters demanded that the government weed out corruption rather than increase taxes.
President Ruto has promised to slash the presidency’s budget and remove non-essential expenditures.
Kenya’s debt currently stands at over $80 billion.