Kenya being a lowermiddle income country compliments tax revenue with government borrowing to finance its national development plans. In an attempt to add to available domestic resources, successive governments have relied on both domestic and external debt to finance the country’s budget.In light of the growing concerns over Kenya’s national public debt sustainability and its potential effect on the economy, this study aimed at analyzing the effect of national public debt on economic growth in Kenya. Specifically, the study sught to establish the effect of domestic debt and external debt on Kenya’s economic growth. Gross Domestic Product was used as the proxy for economic growth while domestic debt, external debt, inflation rate, exchange rate, capital stock and labor force are the explanatory variables. The study used time series data for the period 990 to 209. The data was extracted from the World development indicators and this data was harmonized with data extracted from the data bases of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. The data was analyzed through the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression technique. The findings indicated that domestic debt had an insignificant negative effect on Kenyan economy while external debt has insignificant positive effect. The study concluded that internal debt has deleterious while external debt has positive effect on growth.

The domestic private investment serves as a prerequisite for the development and modernization of any economy. In Kenya, macroeconomic and political uncertainties play a significant role in influencing private domestic investments. That is informed by the fact that these investments allow investors to fund particular ventures, which creates jobs and increase government revenues through taxation, hence boosting the growth of the economy and improving the living standards of the people. However, private domestic investments are severely affected by both macroeconomic and political uncertainties with regards to how the government formulates political, economic, and regulatory policies that affect the business climate. Investors are risk-averse; hence they base investment decisions on prevailing and future conditions of the business environment. This study focused on analyzing the effects of uncertainty on Kenya’s domestic private investments. The study estimated the Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds technique which captures both short and long-run dynamics of this relationship amongst the variables. Time series data from UNCTAD, World Bank, and the Central Bank of Kenya for the period spanning 1980 to the year 2019 was used. The study results suggest that real GDP (RGDP) and real effective exchange rates (REER) have a significant and positive effect on private domestic investment (PDI). In contrast, inflation (INFL), Real interest rates (RINR), Political uncertainty (PRI), and WUIKEN (economic policy uncertainty and volatility in the stock markets) have a negative and significant effect on private domestic investments. Based on these results, the most significant factors affecting private domestic investments were found to be political uncertainty (PRI), real gross domestic investment (RGDP), and WUIKEN (economic policy uncertainty and volatility in the stock markets). Effectively, the study recommends that the government should enact policies that increase the ease of doing business and reduce economic and political uncertainty, such as a reduction in the tax rate, stabilization of exchange rate and stable political environment in order to reduce investor uncertainty and skepticism and also enhance their confidence.

The domestic private investment serves as a prerequisite for the development and modernization of any economy. In Kenya, macroeconomic and political uncertainties play a significant role in influencing private domestic investments. That is informed by the fact that these investments allow investors to fund particular ventures, which creates jobs and increase government revenues through taxation, hence boosting the growth of the economy and improving the living standards of the people. However, private domestic investments are severely affected by both macroeconomic and political uncertainties with regards to how the government formulates political, economic, and regulatory policies that affect the business climate. Investors are risk-averse; hence they base investment decisions on prevailing and future conditions of the business environment. This study focused on analyzing the effects of uncertainty on Kenya’s domestic private investments. The study estimated the Autoregressive-Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds technique which captures both short and long-run dynamics of this relationship amongst the variables. Time series data from UNCTAD, World Bank, and the Central Bank of Kenya for the period spanning 1980 to the year 2019 was used. The study results suggest that real GDP (RGDP) and real effective exchange rates (REER) have a significant and positive effect on private domestic investment (PDI). In contrast, inflation (INFL), Real interest rates (RINR), Political uncertainty (PRI), and WUIKEN (economic policy uncertainty and volatility in the stock markets) have a negative and significant effect on private domestic investments. Based on these results, the most significant factors affecting private domestic investments were found to be political uncertainty (PRI), real gross domestic investment (RGDP), and WUIKEN (economic policy uncertainty and volatility in the stock markets). Effectively, the study recommends that the government should enact policies that increase the ease of doing business and reduce economic and political uncertainty, such as a reduction in the tax rate, stabilization of exchange rate and stable political environment in order to reduce investor uncertainty and skepticism and also enhance their confidence.

Kenya being a lowermiddle income country compliments tax revenue with government borrowing to finance its national development plans. In an attempt to add to available domestic resources, successive governments have relied on both domestic and external debt to finance the country’s budget.In light of the growing concerns over Kenya’s national public debt sustainability and its potential effect on the economy, this study aimed at analyzing the effect of national public debt on economic growth in Kenya. Specifically, the study sught to establish the effect of domestic debt and external debt on Kenya’s economic growth. Gross Domestic Product was used as the proxy for economic growth while domestic debt, external debt, inflation rate, exchange rate, capital stock and labor force are the explanatory variables. The study used time series data for the period 990 to 209. The data was extracted from the World development indicators and this data was harmonized with data extracted from the data bases of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. The data was analyzed through the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression technique. The findings indicated that domestic debt had an insignificant negative effect on Kenyan economy while external debt has insignificant positive effect. The study concluded that internal debt has deleterious while external debt has positive effect on growth.

Kenya being a lower middle income  country  compliments  tax  revenue  with  government  borrowing  to  finance  its  national  development  plans. In  an  attempt  to  add  to  available  domestic  resources,  successive  governments  have  relied  on  both  domestic  and  external  debt  to  finance  the  country’s  budget. In  light  of  the  growing  concerns  over  Kenya’s  national  public  debt  sustainability and its  potential  effect  on  the  economy,  this  study  aimed  at  analyzing  the  effect  of  national  public  debt  on  economic  growth  in  Kenya.  Specifically,  the  study  sught  to   establish  the  effect  of  domestic  debt  and  external  debt  on  Kenya’s  economic  growth.  Gross  Domestic  Product  was used as the  proxy  for  economic  growth  while  domestic  debt,  external  debt,  inflation  rate,  exchange  rate,  capital  stock  and  labor  force  are  the  explanatory  variables.  The  study  used  time series  data  for  the  period   990  to  20 9.  The  data  was  extracted  from  the  World  development  indicators  and  this data  was  harmonized  with  data  extracted  from  the  data  bases  of  the  Kenya  National  Bureau  of  Statistics.  The  data  was  analyzed  through  the  Ordinary  Least  Square  (OLS)  regression  technique.  The findings  indicated that domestic  debt  had an insignificant  negative  effect on Kenyan  economy  while  external  debt  has  insignificant  positive  effect. The study  concluded  that  internal  debt  has  deleterious  while  external  debt  has positive  effect  on  growth.