(Bloomberg) -- An International Monetary Fund review of Kenya’s $4.43 billion funding program will continue in Washington following a staff mission to the East African nation.

The review of the IMF’s loans to Kenya was expected to unlock more than $1 billion. Some of the program metrics include improving revenue collection, slashing public spending and reducing arrears owed to government suppliers. 

“Discussions are underway in Washington,” an IMF spokesman said in an emailed response to questions.

Read More: IMF Says Ongoing Review to Unlock Further Financing for Kenya

Reducing debt vulnerabilities is a central objective of the program initially agreed in 2021 with the IMF, which says Kenya is at high risk of debt distress. Public debt jumped by a fifth in 2023 from the prior year and so-called pending bills ballooned to about $5.4 billion, while revenue collection in the first six months to December was 42% of the full-year target.

The disbursement of the IMF funding is key for Kenya’s budget and a delay may sully sentiment on the shilling, one of the world’s best-performing currencies this year. The authorities are also banking on another $1.2 billion of World Bank budget support by the end of April, which the nation is expected to spend on fully retiring a eurobond that matures in June.

In the 19 months he’s been in power, President William Ruto’s government has rolled out a slew of new taxes in line with the IMF program objectives that have earned him the moniker Zakayo — Swahili for the biblical chief tax-collector Zacchaeus. Other than widening the tax base, some of Ruto’s other economic reforms have made him deeply unpopular in Kenya.

The National Treasury targets a budget shortfall equivalent to 3.9% of gross domestic product for the coming fiscal year and 3.3% for both 2025-26 and 2026-27. In his turnaround plan, Ruto has set an ambitious goal of running a balanced budget before the end of his first term in 2027. 

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