Kenya faces new aid embargo

In January the IMF and World Bank threatened to cut off Kenya from more than $450 million in aid as a result of a parliamentary bill on interest rate controls. The Bank was also concerned by a bill that could halt efforts to reform the country’s civil service. Two other bills expected in the Kenyan parliament seek to introduce price controls on petroleum products and abolish fuel and foreign-exchange adjustment levies on electricity bills. If the donors punish the Kenyan government, key poverty alleviation programs in the country might be derailed.