As Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u prepares to deliver a Sh3.6T budget this afternoon at the National Assembly, Kenyans have expressed pessimism on the estimates expected to press Wanjiku’s already minute earnings further.
All eyes are on the Treasury CS as he presents his first budget under the Kenya Kwanza government.
It is also President William Ruto’s first budget as the Head of State, a Sh300 billion increase from his predecessors.
The budget estimates come against the back of a massive public debt of Sh720b, leaving the Kenya Kwanza government with only a Sh400b borrowing window.
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It remains to be seen how CS Ndung’u will manage to strike a balance between managing to meet the government’s expectations and public expectations considering the Hustlers campaign platform of lowering the soaring cost of living.
There has been a public uproar after an increment in prices of basic commodities after the government formulated various budgetary measures.
Kenyans who spoke to KTN News on Thursday, 15 June 2023 ahead of the budget reading, highlighted issues on the high cost of living, public debt, and some of the proposed tax measures by the new administration as their biggest concerns, and what they expect Thursday’s budget to address.
“It is a shame that a few months into office, the same government that criticised the previous regime, has gone into a borrowing spree and even adjusted the debt ceiling yet again. We as the taxpayers have a long way to go,” Desmond Omondi, a resident of Nairobi said.
His sentiments were echoed by Beatrice Muthoni, a local trader who noted that as much as the government is on a borrowing spree, it should also use the borrowed monies to improve the lives of Kenyans.
Content creators have also castigated the new administration on the proposed five per cent withholding tax on digital content monetization, despite the decrease of the figure down from the earlier proposed 15 per cent.
The CS is also expected to announce the 12 per cent excise duty on mobile money transfer down from the initial 15 percent.
“When we came into office, we found a national deficit of over Sh9 trillion that the Kenya Kwanza government is struggling to settle even as we grapple with inflation that has hit all countries. We have various means of settling this.”
“One of it is upscaling the tax collection measures which will hurt some but benefit the nation as a whole,” Kiharu MP Ndindi Nyoro who is also the chair of the Budget and Appropriation Committee said. BY THE STANDARD MEDIA