Kenya hopes to secure a $1 billion (136.5 billion shillings) loan from the World Bank to boost its dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

The board of the World Bank Group is scheduled to meet on May 26 to approve the $1 billion to Kenya through its Development Policy Operation (DPO) framework, Business Daily newspaper reported.

DPOs are non-earmarked loans, credits, or grants supporting the country’s economic and sectoral policies and institutions.
 
If approved, the fund is expected to be disbursed in a month.

The World Bank is, however, seeking reforms, including strengthening domestic revenue mobilisation with a focus on the digital economy.

The World Bank had initially indicated the potential loan of $750 million to Kenya, but the ticket size was upsized to $ billion in March this year.

Kenya’s external debt reached 344.4 billion shillings ($2.58 billion) due to the weakening shilling against the US dollar, the newspaper reported.

(Editing by Seban Scaira seban.scaria@lseg.com)