This document is a publication by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA-Kenya) that presents a synthesis of the IMF Country Report No. 21/72 that was published in April 2021. The report contained the information and analyses of the agreement to a 38-month program of financial and technical support based on a request presented to the IMF, analyzed by its staff and an approval obtained from the Executive Board of the IMF. The purpose of this publication is to provide a navigation guide to understanding the content of the report, to present an analysis of the implications of the commitments made by the authorities (Government of Kenya) and the challenges and risks, highlight the benchmarks and assess the political economy risks to attainment of the specific declarations and commitments. The report is arranged to mirror the contents of the IMF Country Report No. 21/72 sequentially highlighting the content of each of the five main sections and concluding with a matrix listing the commitments and benchmarks and a commentary on the possibilities and challenges for their attainment during the duration of the program. While this analysis assumes that any readers have basic knowledge of the institutional functions of the IMF and its relationship to its members, it presents a definition of the terms and a description of the decision-making organ of the IMF in respect of program plans.
