MEFMI trains Kenya Officials on Debt Management Performance Assessment

In the recent years, public debt has reached historically high levels owing to, among other things, the Covid-19 pandemic, which has stalled growth in many countries. The growth performance has also been adversely affected by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine which has pushed the global food and energy prices upwards. The shocks combined, have increased the public financing requirements substantially, resulting in rising concerns about long term public debt sustainability.

The rising debt vulnerabilities require most developing countries to strengthen their debt management operations. It is therefore imperative for countries to assess their debt management operations, identify weaknesses as well as institute the necessary reforms to better manage their public debt and the emerging vulnerabilities.

To facilitate debt performance assessment, the World Bank developed the Debt Management Performance Assessment (DeMPA) tool in 2009, later revised in 2015 and 2021.  The tool assesses debt performance through a comprehensive set of performance indicators spanning the full range of government debt management functions. The outputs can be used to inform the appropriate reforms aimed at strengthening debt management operations in developing countries.

In response to a request from the National Treasury of Kenya, MEFMI conducted an in-country workshop on the DeMPA methodology from 21 to 25 November 2022, in Mombasa, Kenya.  The workshop aimed to train country officials on the World Bank DeMPA methodology. Further, it aimed to provide an opportunity for officials to evaluate the existing debt management operations in Kenya against global sound practices, the outcome of which is expected to inform the necessary reforms in the country’s borrowing activities.

The workshop combined presentations, discussions and practical exercises on the DeMPA methodology. The presentations focused on providing detail on the methodology, including its coverage, rationale, dimensions, scoring criteria, among other aspects. The practical exercises aimed to assess Kenya’s existing debt management operations against sound practice.

A total of 45 officials drawn from the National Treasury of Kenya’s Public Debt Management Office and Internal Audit Department as well as from the Office of the Auditor Kenya, participated in the workshop. Of the 45 participants, 24 were male whilst 21 were female.

The workshop was facilitated by Messrs Jacob Mkandawire of the Bank of Zambia and Lekinyi Mollel, a MEFMI accredited fellow of the Bank of Tanzania.

By Josephine Tito