Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi held bilateral talks with Eric Meyer, the US Treasury’s deputy assistant secretary for Africa and the Middle East, in Bangkok on Monday on the sidelines of the 2026 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings.
The National Treasury said the discussion covered Kenya’s macroeconomic outlook, the state of its relationship with the International Monetary Fund, remittance flows from the United States, possible technical cooperation on digital assets, development financing, health cooperation and the Business Laws (Amendment) Act.
Article IV mission in December
On the IMF programme, the two sides focused on the forthcoming Article IV consultation. An IMF mission is expected in Nairobi in early December 2026, the Treasury said. They also reviewed progress on publishing a Governance Diagnostic Report that forms part of Kenya’s engagement with the Fund on accountability.
Kenya’s previous $3.6 billion IMF arrangement ended in March 2025. Talks on a successor have dragged, with the Fund saying in April 2026 that it was waiting for Nairobi’s response to a draft governance diagnostic before moving ahead. The collapse of Finance Bill 2024 after deadly protests left a fiscal gap that has complicated programme conditions ever since.
Central Bank Governor Kamau Thugge has said Kenya can meet its Sh987 billion borrowing need for 2026/27 without a fresh IMF loan from a balance-of-payments perspective, though concessional IMF money would still matter for the Treasury’s financing mix. “From a balance of payments point of view, the IMF programme is not that crucial. But, of course, from a financing point of view, and given that it is concessional funding, that would be important for the Treasury,” he said. The government has not booked IMF disbursements in this year’s financing plan.
World Bank and AfDB as alternatives
Kenya already has a $750 million World Bank budget-support facility approved in June 2026, aimed at fiscal sustainability, governance and social protection. It is also seeking about Sh127 billion more from the World Bank and the African Development Bank this year — roughly $725 million in a proposed World Bank Development Policy Operation and about Sh34 billion from the AfDB — subject to reform conditions and approvals, Public Debt Management Director General Raphael Owino has said.
Mr Mbadi and Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo are in Bangkok for the meetings running from October 12 to 18, after paying a courtesy call on Kenya’s ambassador to Thailand, Lucy Kiruthu. The Treasury has not announced any new loan commitments from the week.
Sources: Tuko | The Eastleigh Voice
Photo: U.S. Department of the Treasury / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
