Treasury CS Ukur Yatani has proposed a Sh3.632 budget to the National Assembly.
The CS said that the budget will focus on the Covid-19 recovery and the Big Four Agenda.
On Thursday, the CS presented the 2021/2022 and Medium-Term Budget alongside the Finance Bill 2021 to Parliament for consideration as per Public Finance Management Act.
The CS said that the Sh3.632 trillion budget proposes to strike a balance between stimulating economic recovery and responding to the health challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the estimates, the CS said that the ministry has invested Sh26.6 billion on the Post Covid-19 Economic Stimulus Programmes PC-ESP and Sh135.3 billion on President’s Big Four Agenda.
In the proposed budget, the Executive, Parliament, and the Judiciary have been allocated Sh1.879 trillion, Sh37 billion, and Sh17 billion respectively.
The CS said that the Finance Bill 2021 is seeking to amend the Income Tax, the VAT Act, the Excise Duty Act, the Tax Procedures Act, the Miscellaneous Fees, and Levies Act, as well as the Capital Markets Act.
It will also amend The Central Depositories Act, the Kenya Revenue Authority Act, the Insurance Act, and the Retirements Benefit Act to facilitate realisation of the budget proposals.
Yatani said that "In preparing the estimates we have been very alive to the current challenges of the ongoing pandemic while ensuring that we continue on a steady path of economic recovery.”
He added that the Treasury is proposing to introduce VAT exemptions on ventilators, decongestants, and supplements in order to boost the health sector by lowering costs.
Yatani said that the ministry will also support youth employment by proposing tax deductions for employers that engage (TVET) graduates as apprentices.
