By Brian Kiprono - Reporter
Kenya, 2 December 2025 - President William Ruto has defended the difficult economic decisions taken by his administration, saying they were necessary to ensure Kenya did not default on its national debts and fall into financial crisis.
Speaking at State House on Tuesday during the presentation of the Jukwaa la Usalama report, the President said he found the economy “on the edge” when he assumed office — with high inflation, shrinking foreign reserves and a rapidly weakening shilling.
“When someone is given work, they must do the work,” he said.
“You elected me to solve economic problems, and that is what I had to face from day one.”
Ruto said that before his government made any changes, key indicators were already pointing to danger.
“We had debts, inflation at 9.6%, the dollar at 167, and our foreign reserves had dropped to 5.7 billion dollars,” he said.
“We could not continue like that.”
The President recalled a conversation with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who asked him what Kenya would do if it reached a point where it could not repay its loans.
“I told him Kenya will not be defeated,” Ruto said.
“We refused to be the country that would default.”
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He said this is why his administration scrapped several subsidies that many Kenyans relied on, including on fuel and flour, and redirected the funds to stabilise the economy.
“I had to make very difficult and sad decisions. I stopped paying some debts temporarily so that we could reorganise ourselves. Many criticised me, but it was the only way to avoid a crisis.”
The President insisted that these measures helped Kenya avoid joining the list of countries that defaulted in 2024.
“Six countries were named as being at risk. Five defaulted — Kenya did not,” he said.
Ruto added that the economy was now showing signs of recovery because of the sacrifices made.
“Today I can confidently tell you our economy is on sound footing,” he said.
“If we had avoided hard decisions, the shame would have been greater.”
He also said his government would continue focusing on jobs, noting that one million young people would be enlisted into opportunities under the national housing project.
Bottom-up, he added, was not a slogan but a strategy that had begun to take shape through county-level economic engagements.
