Nairobi, April 4 -- The ratio of debt service to tax revenue in the eight months to February hit a new record of 84.4 percent, leaving very little for development projects as well as pushing the country deeper into debts.

Exchequer data on public finance performance over the eight-month period revealed that tax revenue stood at Sh1.37 trillion while Sh1.16 trillion was paid to creditors.

The rise in debt service costs comes when the country is struggling to grow tax revenue, meaning a thinner spending on development that drives economic growth and also more borrowing to run government.

In a similar period in the last financial year, Kenya spent 55.9 percent equivalent of its revenue to service debt and 59 percent in the year before.

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