President William Ruto has intervened in the ongoing discussions surrounding the Finance Bill 2024, specifically addressing the proposed tax on bread.
Sources familiar with the matter revealed that the President directed Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u of the National Treasury and Kimani Kuria, Chairman of the National Assembly Finance Committee, to ensure the removal of the tax proposal.
The Finance Bill 2024 had suggested implementing a 16 per cent tax on bread, which would have led to an approximate price increase of Sh10 for a 400-gram loaf.
However, President Ruto is said to have expressed concerns over the potential impact on consumers and instructed the relevant authorities to reconsider the proposal.
Earlier in March, CS Ndung'u had expressed his stance on the tax, arguing that zero-rating bread and milk had not effectively benefited low-income households or the middle class. However, it appears that the President's intervention has influenced a change of position.
On Monday afternoon, President Ruto held a meeting with the teams from the National Treasury and the Central Bank at State House Nairobi.
"Our management of the economy is deliberate and intentional as we lay the building blocks of Kenya's transformation," Ruto said.
"In all this, the people are at the centre of our plans."
During the meeting, he emphasized the intentional management of the economy, with a focus on laying the foundations for Kenya's transformation while keeping the people at the centre of their plans.