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Reuters
a day ago
- Business
- Reuters
Kenya's debt costs to remain high due to local borrowing, Moody's says
NAIROBI, July 23 (Reuters) - Kenya's cost of servicing its debts is expected to remain stubbornly high, ratings agency Moody's said on Wednesday, as the government leans on the domestic debt market to fund its budget shortfalls. The East African nation has one of the highest debt interest costs to revenue ratio in the world, Moody's said, and spends a third of government revenue on settling interest payments. "Kenya will rely predominantly on the domestic market to meet its fiscal financing needs with approximately two-thirds of its financing, or just under 4% of GDP per year, from domestic sources," the agency said in an issuer report. "This reliance will continue to weigh on debt affordability, a key constraint in Kenya's credit profile." Finance Minister John Mbadi set the government's fiscal deficit for the financial year starting this month at 4.8% of economic output, narrower than the 2024/25 deficit of 5.7%, when he presented the budget to parliament last month. But Moody's said that target could slip as the government confronts acute fiscal pressures. "Kenya's revenue generation capacity remains structurally weak," Moody's said, citing missed revenue collection targets. The government needs to secure a new financing programme with the International Monetary Fund, the ratings agency said, to help it deal with annual external debt repayments that stand at $3.5 billion on average. The government will hold another round of talks with IMF officials in September in a bid to clinch the programme, the central bank chief Kamau Thugge said last month. "A successful IMF programme could anchor investor confidence and reduce external borrowing costs," Moody's said.
Reuters
15-07-2025
- General
- Reuters
World risks up to $39 trillion in economic losses from vanishing wetlands, report says
NAIROBI, July 15 (Reuters) - The global destruction of wetlands, which support fisheries, agriculture and flood control, may mean the loss of $39 trillion in economic benefits by 2050, according to a report by the Convention on Wetlands released on Tuesday. Some 22% of wetlands, both freshwater systems such as peat lands, rivers and lakes, and coastal marine systems including mangroves and coral reefs, have disappeared since 1970, according to the intergovernmental report, the fastest pace of loss of any ecosystem. Pressures, including land-use change, pollution, agricultural expansion, invasive species, and the impacts of climate change - such as rising sea levels and drought - are driving the declines. "The scale of loss and degradationis beyond what we can afford to ignore," said Hugh Robertson, the lead author of the report. The report called for annual investments of $275 billion to $550 billion to reverse the threats to the remaining wetlands, and said current spending was a "substantial under-investment" without giving figures. The world has lost 411 million hectares of wetlands, the equivalent of half a billion football pitches, and a quarter of the remaining wetlands are now classified as in a state of degradation, according to the report. Wetlands' economic benefits include flood regulation, water purification and carbon storage - key as water levels rise and tropical storms and hurricanes intensify due to climate change. They also support the fishery and agriculture industries and offer cultural benefits. The report launches a week before the Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, meeting of the parties of the Convention on Wetlands, a global agreement of 172 countries signed in 1971 to spearhead preservation of the ecosystem. The group, which includes China, Russia and the United States, meets every three years, but it is unclear if all nations will send delegates. Wetland deterioration is particularly acute in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, but is worsening in Europe and North America, the report said. Rehabilitation projects are under way in countries including Zambia, Cambodia and China.
Yahoo
15-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
World risks up to $39 trillion in economic losses from vanishing wetlands, report says
By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI (Reuters) -The global destruction of wetlands, which support fisheries, agriculture and flood control, may mean the loss of $39 trillion in economic benefits by 2050, according to a report by the Convention on Wetlands released on Tuesday. Some 22% of wetlands, both freshwater systems such as peat lands, rivers and lakes, and coastal marine systems including mangroves and coral reefs, have disappeared since 1970, according to the intergovernmental report, the fastest pace of loss of any ecosystem. Pressures, including land-use change, pollution, agricultural expansion, invasive species, and the impacts of climate change - such as rising sea levels and drought - are driving the declines. "The scale of loss and degradation is beyond what we can afford to ignore," said Hugh Robertson, the lead author of the report. The report called for annual investments of $275 billion to $550 billion to reverse the threats to the remaining wetlands, and said current spending was a "substantial under-investment" without giving figures. The world has lost 411 million hectares of wetlands, the equivalent of half a billion football pitches, and a quarter of the remaining wetlands are now classified as in a state of degradation, according to the report. Wetlands' economic benefits include flood regulation, water purification and carbon storage - key as water levels rise and tropical storms and hurricanes intensify due to climate change. They also support the fishery and agriculture industries and offer cultural benefits. The report launches a week before the Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, meeting of the parties of the Convention on Wetlands, a global agreement of 172 countries signed in 1971 to spearhead preservation of the ecosystem. The group, which includes China, Russia and the United States, meets every three years, but it is unclear if all nations will send delegates. Wetland deterioration is particularly acute in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, but is worsening in Europe and North America, the report said. Rehabilitation projects are under way in countries including Zambia, Cambodia and China.
