IMF staff in Kenya for fact-finding mission after protests

NAIROBI (Reuters) - A team of staff from the International Monetary Fund is visiting Kenya on a fact-finding trip, the IMF said late on Thursday, part of efforts to craft a way forward in the wake of deadly protests that scuppered the government's planned tax hikes.

President William Ruto abandoned this year's finance bill in June, leaving the heavily indebted government with a bigger budget deficit for this financial year, mounting unpaid bills, and a delay in disbursement of IMF funding.

"This is a fact-finding mission and is part of our ongoing and constructive dialogue with the Kenyan authorities to find a balanced path forward," Julie Kozack, the head of communications for the IMF, told a news briefing.

She did not provide more details, saying further updates will be given when the team completes its mission.

Kenya agreed a four-year loan with the IMF in 2021, and signed up for additional lending to support climate change measures in May 2023, taking its total IMF loan access to $3.6 billion.

The IMF requires regular reviews of reforms - in Kenya's case every six months - before it releases tranches of funding.

Kenya reached a staff level agreement with the IMF in June on the seventh review of its programme, but the protest and ensuing withdrawal of the finance bill put a sign-off by the fund's executive board, and subsequent payout, on hold.

Kenyan government officials have previously said they expect the IMF board to consider approving the disbursement of a $600 million tranche later this month, but no date has been set for a meeting to discuss this.

(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Karin Strohecker and Christina Fincher)