Chinese banks behind the SGR loan fined the country Sh1.31bn in the last financial year, a burden the taxpayer will shoulder, in addition to the current high cost of living.
One of the banks that provided financing for the Jubilee regime mega project from Mombasa to Naivasha and has fined Kenya is the Export-Import Bank of China.
“This (Sh1.312 billion) relates to the cost of default on interest at one percent of the due amount,” an SGR disclosure document reads in part.
Kenyans are forced to dig deeper into their pockets to pay the loan because revenues generated from the SGR passenger and cargo services on the track have not been sufficient to meet operation costs, which stood at Sh18.5 billion in the year to June against sales of Sh15 billion.
SGR posted an operation loss of Sh3.4 billion last financial year.
