Nairobi News

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich on Thursday presented the 2018/2019 budget whose theme he said was “creating jobs and transforming lives.”

Among the key things we picked out from his budget statement were:

1. A proposal to amend the Employment Act; Employers to contribute 7.5 per cent for housing while employees to give 0.5 per cent from their salaries.

2. A proposal to increase exercise duty from 20 per cent to 30 per cent for PSV’s with an engine capacity of more than 2500cc.

3. Excise duty on Kerosene and Diesel to be harmonized to reduce fuel adulteration.

4. Turnover tax for small businesses will be replaced by a presumptive tax of 15 per cent.

5. A proposal of a 20 per cent penalty on late payment of tax from gaming.

6. Mobile money transfer excise duty up from 10%-12%.

In allocations:

1. Technical education gets Sh16 billion to get more instructors and develop curriculum. Sh91 billion for universities. And Sh2 billion for feeding and Sh5 billion to get more teachers in the basic education sector.

2. In the energy sector; Sh4.8 billion for exploration of oil and gas and Sh6.7 billion for last mile connectivity.

3. In health; Sh2 billion for primary health care. Sh7 billion for cancer diagnosis equipment and Sh400 million for cancer institute

4. Treasury allocated Sh3 billion for construction of affordable housing.

5. Counties were allocated Sh 376 billion, a 40 per cent of recent audit of government revenue. Nairobi river gets Sh800 million for cleanup.

6. In sports, Sh200 million allocated to construct a sports academy

7. Parliament gets Sh36.8 billion to play oversight.