Kenya doubles IMF loan request to $200 million: IMF rep

By Duncan Miriri

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya has doubled its loan request to the IMF to $200 million to cushion its currency against the fallouts from the global downturn and a severe drought at home, the fund's representative said on Thursday.

Scott Rogers told Reuters the east African nation had revised its borrowing after the IMF changed its rules to allow countries to access more funds in the face of the global slump.

Previously, the IMF's Exogenous Shocks Facility -- the programme under which Kenya is borrowing -- only gave nations access to 25 percent of its allocated borrowing quota with the fund.

Kenya had asked for its entire entitlement of $100 million before the IMF adjusted the rules.

"They could have said, we will stick with $100 million but they would rather have the money," he told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Kenya's balance of payments swung into a deficit of $677 million in the year to March from a surplus of $747 million in the same period a year earlier.

Hard currency reserves also fell well below the statutory minimum of four months worth of import cover, thanks to high prices last year for commodities including oil, increased food imports and capital flight caused by the credit crunch.

Rogers said the IMF board would meet on Friday to weigh the loan application, adding it was likely to be approved.

"Usually when we get to this stage, the board very rarely, will not approve it. The chances are very good but, as they say, it is not over until it is over," he said.

Government expects a modest recovery in economic growth this year to between 2-3 percent after post-election violence and the drought sent last year's growth crashing to 1.7 percent.