|
NAIROBI, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Treasury on Wednesday presented a 23 billion U.S. dollar fiscal budget for the 2016/17 financial year, widening tax bracket as part of efforts to cushion low-income earners in the country.
The 2016/2017 budget increases from the 20 billion dollars in 2015/2016, premised on an expected economic growth rate of 6.0 percent in 2016 from an estimated 5.6 percent in 2015.
While delivering his budget statement in Parliament, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich said the government was addressing security challenges to enhance a friendly business environment, scaling up infrastructure investment and initiatives to drive agricultural and industrial transformation.
Rotich said 2.64 billion dollars had been allocated to the security docket for 2016/17: 1.24 billion to Defence and National Intelligence Service and another 1.4 billion dollars to the Interior Ministry.
"The people of Nairobi and Coast may have by now noticed the surveillance cameras installed in strategic points in Nairobi and Mombasa. These security surveillance systems provide real time footage to the National Police Operation Center, enabling security agencies to monitor and detect crime," he said.
He also announced that the government is working with partners to construct 20,000 housing units to provide decent housing for security agencies within 24 months.
Rotich proposed a waiver of taxes on bonuses, retirement benefits and overtime for workers who fall in that tax band - those who earn below 100 dollars.
He also proposed increasing the tax bands and reliefs by 10 percent. "These measures are meant to cushion the workers from the high cost of living and demonstrate our commitment to sharing the growth of our economy," he said.
The Treasury forecast economic growth of 6.1 percent in 2017 and 6.2 percent in 2018.
The CS said the government will focus more on food security and agriculture, transport and logistics, flood control and water harvesting and other key projects so as to drive inclusive growth.
The Treasury allocated 320 million dollars for Free Day Secondary Education and 140 million dollars for Free Primary Education.
In the food security and agriculture cluster, 122 million dollars has been allocated for the on-going irrigation projects country and transformation of agriculture from subsistence to productive commercial farming.
In its estimates, the government is also allocated 3.68 billion dollars for infrastructure projects.
Within the medium term, infrastructure, energy and ICT are priority spending for the government with gradual increment in allocation, from 3.68 billion dollars in the current financial year to 3.92 billion dollars and 4.31 billion dollars for the financial years 2017/2018 and 2018/2019 respectively.
The Treasury has proposed an introduction of an additional specific rate of 200 dollars per metric tonne for steel and iron imports. This is bound to uplift the steel sector, which has been embattled in recent years due to an increase in cheaper imports from other markets.
Local aluminium producers also stand to benefit from the proposal to raise import duty from 10 percent to 25 percent that seeks to protect locally produced goods.
The Treasury also removed taxes on liquefied petroleum gas, commonly known as gas, to reduce smoke related ailments.
Rotich proposed an increase in the road levy and the excise duty for kerosene, saying that zero-rating kerosene has led to adulteration of the fuel.
He also said the price of cosmetics and beauty products in the country was set to rise after he proposed a 10 percent excise duty on cosmetics and beauty products.
The national budget comes at a time when Kenya is still grappling with the implementation challenges of the devolved system of government, which include among other things low absorption of funds, inadequate human resources, inadequate physical infrastructure, and low local revenue collection for county governments. Enditem
