Kenya has signed an 800 million dollars syndicated loan with four international lenders to fund projects for development, a senior Treasury official said on Monday.

Kamau Thugge, Principal Secretary, Ministry of Finance, told Reuters in Nairobi that the government had already drawn down the sum.

In January, the Nairobi government picked Standard Chartered, Standard Bank, Citi and Rand Merchant Bank to lead the syndicated loan.

A market source earlier told Reuters the deal was signed last Thursday. The terms were not immediately known.

Kenya has said it would raise 150 billion shillings (1.46 billion dollars) from external commercial sources, partly to plug a fiscal deficit.

The fiscal deficit is equal to 9.7 per cent of gross domestic product in its budget for the fiscal year to June 2017.

President Uhuru Kenyatta, who faces re-election in August, has raised borrowing since taking power in April 2013.

Last week, he dismissed criticism of the higher borrowing, saying it was funding development in the East African nation.