Uhuru: Kenya growing faster than expected

Kenya's economy is on course to grow by about five per cent this year, Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta said in Washington during weekend meetings of the International Monetary Fund.

Strong performances in the tourism, agriculture and manufacturing sectors suggest Kenya will exceed a projection of 4.1 per cent growth made earlier this year, Mr Kenyatta said at a news conference.

Growth projections would be even higher, he added, if “we were to take on board the informal sector.”

“There are a lot of people involved in the informal [untaxed] sector that are not captured” in official statistics, Mr Kenyatta noted.

A growth rate of about 5 per cent would put Kenya in the middle rankings for sub Saharan Africa, according to the IMF's projections.

Expectations

A 5 per cent expansion would surpass expectations for crisis-torn countries such as Madagascar and Zimbabwe but would lag other East African countries, including Tanzania and Uganda, which are forecast to achieve growth of 6.5 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively.

Kenya's economy grew at a 7 per cent annual rate in 2007, but managed only 1.7 per cent growth the following year.

That drop-off was due to the violence following the 2007 election as well as to what Mr Kenyatta said were “factors that were well beyond the control of Kenya.” He pointed in particular to a severe drought and the global financial crisis.