The country erupted into chaos when peaceful demonstrations against high tax rises turned violent. Police fired at crowds that stormed parliament.
Mostly led by young Kenyans, the protests reflected widespread anger over an annual finance bill. Ruto had to scrap the bill, warning of a huge funding gap.
"We will be proposing to the National Assembly a budget cut of not the entire 346, but a budget cut of 177 billion and borrowing the difference (around 169 billion shillings)," said Ruto on Friday, July 5.
Public debt amounts to some 10 trillion shillings ($78 billion), around 70 percent of Kenya's GDP.
The decision to borrow would result in the fiscal deficit rising "from 3.3 percent to 4.6 percent", Ruto said, but would pay for some services.
These would include the hiring of secondary school teachers and medical interns, as well as continuing to fund a milk stabilisation and fertiliser programme that protects farmers.