World Bank approves Kenya budget support and sustainability loans
The World Bank Group logo is displayed on a office wall at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Karachi, Pakistan February 4, 2026. PHOTO | REUTERS
The World Bank said on Tuesday that it had approved a $750 million budget support loan for Kenya and a sustainability-linked facility that will reduce the country's reliance on expensive domestic debt and bolster economic reforms.
The World Bank Group logo is displayed on a office wall in Karachi
The World Bank Group logo is displayed on a office wall at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Karachi, Pakistan February 4, 2026. The budget support is known as a Development Policy Operation (DPO).
It will come in the form of a $340 million International Bank for Reconstruction and Development loan and $410 million in highly concessional International Development Association funding, the World Bank said in a statement.
This will be the seventh DPO Kenya has received since its first one in 2018.
The East African nation's public finances are under pressure because of heavy debt and wide fiscal deficits.
The sustainability-linked facility is structured as a syndicated loan targeting roughly $500 million. It will be supported by credit enhancement that reduces investor risk and lowers Kenya's borrowing cost.
The World Bank said the sustainability loan was designed to help diversify Kenya's funding mix and deliver on targets to reduce rates of deforestation and increase rural electricity access.
