Paris Club reschedules Kenya's debt payments

The government of Kenya says it has successfully negotiated a new repayment schedule of its foreign debts following a meeting with creditor countries.

The new schedule affects some three-hundred million dollars worth of debt arrears and maturities falling due in the year beginning in July.

The finance minister, Chrysanthus Okemo, said he had made Kenya's case for rescheduling by citing the effects of drought and a package of economic reforms.

He said Kenya would seek further debt rescheduling through other negotiations. The Central Bank of Kenya put the country's external debt in February at five-point-six billion dollars.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service