The World Bank praised the Kenyan government under the administration of former president Uhuru Kenyatta for guiding the country towards economic recovery.
This was after most economies in the world were shaken by the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine that disrupted trade worldwide.
In its Kenya Economic Update (2022) report, the financial institution noted that the economy had grown significantly in 2021 and the first half of 2022.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine and subsequent sanctions disrupted world markets, most notably through sharply raising global commodity prices but Kenyan economy rebounded and continued to register a positive growth to the mid of 2022,” the report stated.
According to World Bank, Kenya registered one of the best Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the continent.
“Partly reflecting a base effect, real GDP increased by 7.5 percent in 2021 and 6.0 percent y/y in first half of 2022, driven by broad-based increases in services and industry,” the report revealed further.
Former President Uhuru Kenyatta initiated a raft of measures that cushioned Kenyan investors from global shocks hence saving the economy and realising positive growth, something that was praised by the World Bank.
“The rebound in first half of 2022 was driven by resilient consumption growth, underpinned by buoyant international remittances, increase in minimum monthly wage, and large fiscal subsidies to cushion from the regional drought and global commodities market shocks,” World Bank praised Uhuru’s subsidy program.
Through fuel subsidies, most industries could continue their operations amidst rising fuel prices across the globe.
The former president also enabled Kenyans to access credit by freezing Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) negative listing.
“CRB reports listed from October 2020 will not apply for another 12 months,” the former President announced in October 2021.
In March 2020, in another move to save the Kenyan economy, the government announced a halt of bank mobile money transfer charges.
“Banks will ensure that transfer between mobile wallets and the bank accounts will be costless,” the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) announced in a statement back then.
The charges will, however, resume in January 2023 following consultations between the financial institution and respective banks.
World Bank also lauded Uhuru for overseeing a peaceful electioneering period and subsequent transfer of power. The financial institution noted that the transition largely contributed to the growth of economy.
“Business confidence picked up in the wake of a smooth transition of power following a largely peaceful presidential election,” World Bank announced.
The financial institution was one of the biggest financiers of the Uhuru regime, alongside the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
