President William Ruto on Thursday said he had delivered Kenya’s economy from what he described as the trenches it was in when he took over power in September 2022.

Addressing a roadside rally in Kericho town, the president cited the price of the US dollar against the shilling, which went down last month after a sustained rise to an all-time high of Ksh.161.

“Kenya’s economy was in the trenches but I have saved it. Now, as you can see, even the dollar price has gone down and things are in order,” Ruto said.

He also quoted February’s one-shilling drop in fuel prices and hinted at a further drop in the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA)’s March review due Thursday evening.

“Today, you will be given new fuel prices and see how things are getting better,” Ruto said.

He further defended his government’s hike of several taxes and introduction of new ones, reiterating that he seeks to control debt levels.

“We want to ensure that Kenya gets ahead without burden and debt,” Ruto said, adding; “We must be careful as a nation not to contract debt that has the possibility of making our country fall. That is why we are going to use local interventions and revenue to drive our development and reduce borrowing.”

So far this year, Kenya has received disbursements of over Ksh.136 billion ($1 billion) and expects to get another Ksh.203 billion ($1.5 billion) from the World Bank until May.

It is also buying back more than $1.4 billion of its $2 billion Eurobond maturing in June, even as the finance ministry projects that the economy will expand at 5.5 per cent in 2024