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Kenya does not expect an ongoing International Monetary Fund staff visit to yield a lending programme at this stage, its finance minister said on Wednesday, with talks currently focused on more technical details. The team from the Fund's headquarters in Washington arrived in Kenya last week and is expected to ?conclude the visit later this week.
Kenya's government has formally requested a new support programme after its previous $3.6 billion deal ended last April, but officials say they have not currently factored IMF funding into this year's budget. Asked by Reuters if a new deal with the IMF had been reached, finance minister John Mbadi ?said: "No, it's very far from it". He was speaking at an event to announce results of an initial public offering in Kenya's state pipeline firm.
"IMF was not coming ?for any deal. They are coming for engagement," he said, describing the talks as technical. The government, which raised $2.25 billion through ?new Eurobonds last month, has been turning to securitisation of some revenue streams to fund development ?projects, a move that initially curbed its ability to strike a deal with the IMF.
Reporting by Duncan Miriri; editing by Marc Jones and Tomasz Janowski Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
