Rwanda: Debt Levels Manageable - Govt

Finance minister Claver Gatete during a past meeting. File.

Photo: World Bank   By Collins Mwai

Government has dismissed reports of Rwanda's debt levels saying the country is still in the low risk category.

Minister of Finance Claver Gatete said that as at the end of 2017, Rwanda's external debt level to Gross Domestic Product was at 36.6 per cent which is below the East African threshold of 50 per cent.

Domestic debt stands at about 10 per cent.

However, this is a slight increase compared to end 2016 whereby external debt to GDP stood at 35.2 per cent while domestic debt was about 9.4 per cent.

The International Monetary Fund ranks countries in four categories depending on their debt levels, low risk, moderate risk, high risk and in debt distress being the highest.

Low risk where Gatete said that Rwanda's falls is when all the debt burden indicators are below the threshold.

Gatete said that there is no cause for alarm over the debt levels saying that beyond the EAC threshold other indicators showed risks levels continue to be low.

He added that the government has been cautious in debt management including managing expenditure.

The minister noted that other aspects that showed Rwanda's debt levels were manageable include ability to service the debts and rising exports.

"We cannot take more debts than we can handle. There is caution on how we go about debt management. Also when you look at aspects such as debt servicing, rising exports and reducing trade deficit among others, our debt levels are very manageable," Gatete said.