A team of staff from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) led by the mission chief for Kenya, Haimanot Teferra, begins its visit to Nairobi today, September 25, 2025, through October 9, 2025, to start discussions with Kenyan authorities on a possible Fund-supported programme. If successful, this would mark Kenya’s 23rd IMF arrangement since membership, aimed at enhancing economic stability.
Kenya’s Request for New Programme
During the conclusion of a staff visit in March 2025 to the country on the modalities of the ninth review of the previous USD 3.6B programme, Kenyan authorities had formally requested discussions on a new programme with the Fund. The IMF and Kenyan authorities agreed to discontinue the ninth review under the Extended Fund Facility and Extended Credit Facility programmes in the previous programme. This was as a result of missed reform conditionalities that came with the programme, and the ongoing discussions between the IMF staff and Kenyan authorities are geared towards reaching an agreement for a new funded programme.
Negotiations to Run Concurrently with Article IV Consultations
According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Dr. Kamau Thugge, speaking at the post-Monetary Policy Committee media briefing on August 13, 2025, the negotiations will run concurrently with the IMF’s Article IV consultations.
“With regard to the IMF, we do expect the IMF in September [2025] to start negotiations on a new programme. We expect that programme when it goes to the Board will be discussed together with the Article IV consultation discussions. The preference would be to have a funded programme and that is what we have expressed.” – Dr. Kamu Thugge, Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya.
For Kenya, securing a new IMF programme will help to unlock concessional financing, bolster investor confidence, and mitigate any balance-of-payments pressures. However, the negotiations will likely hinge on Kenya’s ability to commit to fiscal consolidation measures and governance reforms which are areas where previous programmes faced implementation hurdles. In its FY 2025/2026 annual borrowing plan, the National Treasury has not baked in program loans from the IMF-ECF/EFF/RSF in its sources of net external financing.
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