Did you know that our beloved country, Kenya, is ‘broke’? What’s Kenya’s next move to stabilize the economy and service her debts?
In a statement by Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u, the Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Planning, he said, “We are broke.” What does that mean for our country, you may ask.
Simply put, the available resources are less than the listed expenses at the moment! The CS compares the national budget to a household budget quoting that you might have a roof over your head but at the same time not able to meet your daily needs. That is the state of the country.
Reports show that Kenya missed revenue collection by ksh.51.8 billion in the first half of last year running from July to December. Could it then be true that the National coffers were empty as the Kenya Kwanza government had announced?
Remember that as of September last year, the national debt stood at Ksh.8.7 trillion. So how do we stabilize the economy without more borrowing?
Read: NSSF Acquires Additional Ksh700 Million Stake In KCB
To answer that, the government is on a spree to ‘force’ Kenyans to save. President Ruto argues that we need to increase our national savings so that Kenya can borrow more domestically.
This has resulted to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) monthly deductions being raised to Ksh.2,060 up from Ksh.200 to effect this new savings plan.
The amount is a 6% deduction from every employee’s monthly income with a similar contribution from the employer totaling 12% per month.
In my opinion, this is a big win for Kenya but at the same time painful for the taxpayer in the short run. Yes, I agree, more savings will stabilize the economy and secure an employee’s financial future after retirement.
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