Mr John Njiraini, the KRA commissioner- general. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- Official data shows KRA netted a total of Sh317.4 billion or Sh28 billion more than the Sh289.03 billion realised in the same period of 2016/17.
- The performance however falls below the quarterly target for an agency which has a daunting task of netting a total of Sh1.499 trillion by June next year.
- From street vendors to high-end retail outlets, hospitality facilities and manufacturing establishments– which pay the bulk of taxes, have been reporting losses linked to heightened political activities.
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has shrugged off the prolonged
electoral politics to grow the July-September tax collection by 9.8 per
cent.
Official data published on Thursday shows the
agency netted a total of Sh317.4 billion or Sh28 billion more than the
Sh289.03 billion realised in the same period of 2016/17.
That
pace of growth is however lower than a 12 per cent rate recorded in the
same period last year when tax revenues leapt from the Sh257.92 billion
in the 2015/16 fiscal year.
The performance also
falls below the quarterly target for an agency which has a daunting task
of netting a total of Sh1.499 trillion by June next year.
Last month, Reuters
quoted Treasury Principal Kamau Thugge saying the performance to
Mid-September was Sh29 billion below the official targets assigned by
the National Treasury.
The Thursday data also shows
that government departments, which are expected to raise Sh49.9 billion
by end of the financial year, generated Sh3.51 billion between July and
September.
The country is grappling with a prolonged
electoral process after the Supreme Court cancelled the August 8
presidential poll results on September 1, citing violation of laws and
procedures.
All affected
From street
vendors to high-end retail outlets, hospitality facilities and
manufacturing establishments– which pay the bulk of taxes, have been
reporting losses linked to heightened political activities.
Banks,
have for instance, reported reduced borrowing, hospitality facilities
have complained of high-profile event cancellations while some
manufacturers have had to scale down on production due to political
uncertainty.
“The business sectors which have been
adversely affected include transport, manufacturing, retail and
hospitality sectors,” says the Kenya National Chambers of Commerce and
Industry chairman Kiprono Kittony.
In public sector,
most of the government programmes have been put on hold as the ruling
coalition intensifies campaigns for October 26 repeat polls amid street
protests by the Opposition which is demanding electoral reforms.
National
Treasury secretary Henry Rotich said in the Statement of Actual
Revenues and Net Exchequer Issues as at September 29, that the
government had by end of the quarter, borrowed a total of Sh46.82
billion from the domestic market.
Another Sh7.35 billion was borrowed from foreign governments and organisations, the official report shows.
Over
the period, the State also received a budget support of Sh530 million,
foreign grants worth Sh229.81 million and an additional Sh100 million
cash disbursement from the United Nations in support of troops fighting
al Shabaab in Somalia.
Overall, the government received in its coffers a total of Sh408.14 billion to runs its affairs between July and September.
The
government which is currently implementing phased salary increments for
civil servants also has to resolve nurses’ strike which has entered
four months
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