The parent company of the oil marketer flagged the delayed payments after the government’s debt to Vivo Energy Kenya under the fuel stabilisation plan increased five times to Sh21 billion ($167 million) in the year.
Government receivables grew from Sh4.023 billion ($31 million) a year earlier, according to disclosures made by the parent company, Vivo Energy Limited, despite Treasury’s challenges to pay oil marketers for maintaining low pump prices.
The Treasury took longer than expected to pay the oil marketers, they ran out of money and had to borrow extra money from banks to cover their operating costs and pay for cargo.
This extreme scarcity was a factor in the government’s delay in paying out rewards to international and domestic oil marketers who kept pump prices low.