By Pascal Ndegwa - Reporter
Kenya, October 9, 2026 - Moses Kuria has pushed back against what he described as widespread misunderstanding of Kenya’s economic performance, arguing that the country’s fundamentals remain solid despite global turbulence.
Speaking at the Annual Economist Conference 2026, Kuria said accountants and economists work from the same basic assumptions and the same set of facts. The challenge, he argued, is not disputing growth figures but properly understanding what those figures mean.
He maintained that the current administration has performed better on the macroeconomic front than previous ones, delivering average growth of between 4.5 and 5 per cent. That growth, he noted, has been achieved even as the country absorbed major external shocks, including the war in Ukraine, the after-effects of Covid-19, and instability in the Middle East.
Kenya remains the sixth-largest economy in Africa for a reason, Kuria said. One of the strongest signals of confidence, he added, is the performance of the shilling. Since January 2024, almost every major currency has lost value, yet the Kenyan shilling has held relatively steady without artificial support. That stability, he said, has helped attract foreign investment and keep money flowing into the economy.
On inflation, Kuria pointed to Kenya’s ability to manage food and overall consumer prices even amid oil and food shocks. He also highlighted the country’s foreign exchange reserves, citing figures of around $15 billion in official reserves and additional buffers that bring the wider position closer to $20 billion.
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Kuria dismissed much of the public criticism as noise that fails to engage with the underlying data. Budget deficits and rising debt, he argued, are not in themselves signs of crisis. What matters is whether the country can continue servicing its obligations , and Kenya has not defaulted.
“Our economic factors don’t look bad. We don’t face any risk of economic collapse,” he said, describing the absence of default as more than a statement of survival but an indicator of underlying strength.
For Kuria, the real task is to separate political noise from the economic record. On the numbers he presented, Kenya’s growth, currency stability, inflation management and reserves point to an economy that has absorbed serious shocks without breaking.