The heated debate on the Finance Bill 2023, which has been criticized by many and praised by some, raged in the last week, taking the heat to the President’s doorstep, literally.
Sunday evening, President William Ruto held a joint interview with the mainstream media houses in Kenya, where he was put to task, among other things, to shed light on the controversial Finance Bill 2023.
Ruto, in his argument, said that in the 2023/2024 financial year budget, In this budget, his administration has imposed to grow the economy by taxing imported fish, furniture, steel, and cement.
He further said that raising taxes was the only feasible way for the country to collect more revenue and deliver services to its people.
“We are going to live within our means, even if we have to delay salaries, we will, so that people begin to internalize that we cannot continue borrowing,” he said.
“We are not overtaxing ourselves. We have to be realistic; if we do not pay taxes, we cannot be like the countries we want to be in their shoes. We will be going backward,” Ruto added.
Media Engagement, State House, Nairobi. https://t.co/bNT9bbsPNN
— State House Kenya (@StateHouseKenya) May 14, 2023
When asked the reason for increasing the Value Added Tax (VAT) on fuel, he said: “We are going to increase the VAT by 8% for two reasons; number one because having differential rates, one at 8% and others at 16% poses an integrity problem, people use it as a loophole to manipulate numbers. This 8% that we are adding is going to give us about 50 billion shillings. It will begin to deal with the problem of roads across the country.”
He added that he found a “huge fuel crisis.” when he was sworn to office as President in September last year. He also “debunked” the fuel subsidy, calling it “just a pledge.”
However, Ruto assured Kenyans that the money raised through the increased taxes should be used appropriately to benefit them.
“I want as I collect taxes, as Kenyans contribute their money as taxes, they must be put to good use. They should not be put in projects like the BBI and Azimio. They must be put in tangible projects that make a difference in the lives of people,” the President said.
Ruto further defended his administration’s removal of subsidies, saying they were hurting the economy, which was already doing poorly.
“Coming into office, I had to cancel the borrowing of about 300 billion shillings that the intention was to borrow that would have taken the country down the cliff,” he said.
“Many of the subsidies that were being dished left, right, and center, I had to reorganize the whole budget because we found a country headed and sliding into bankruptcy,” he added.
Ruto said he had removed about 14 taxes from various products to ease the burden on Kenyans.
“I have removed three and a half percent road levy from fuel. I have removed VAT 8 percent on gas, and I have removed other taxes, about 14 other taxes that I have removed to try and even so that we have a balanced budget,” he said.
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