Kenyans seem to be living at a time they will never see peace in terms of their little and hard-earned cash as the treasury warns them to prepare to give it to Caesar.
Kenyans will now have to dig deeper into their pockets to help the government remain afloat through paying taxes that will later be channeled into paying off the ever-ballooning public debt.
Kenya’s appetite for borrowing seems to have moved a notch higher even with concerns from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Kenya’s debt now stands at 5 trillion shillings with the greatest share of loans being from China that now accounts for more than 65 percent of the debts.
In a period of one year, the government borrowed a total of 632 billion shillings with analysts seeing more borrowing this year.
READ: Running on the Wheels of Debts: Kenya Leads Other EAC Members Among Debtors to TDB
The country now seems to be running on the wheels of debts. Kenya is also the leading among debtors at the Trade and Development Bank with its headquarters in Burundi.
Kenya received 651 million dollars from the bank with an additional 250 million dollars in 2017 that was aimed at paying off another syndicate loan that had matured.
The only way the government will be able to pay off the debts and maybe avoid future borrowing is to increase taxes, putting more pressure on the already heavily-taxed Kenyans.
The Treasury has already announced that a 16 percent Value Added Tax will be applied on fuel, leading to an increase in the price of a liter of super petrol to 130 shillings. The price of diesel will go up as well something that will affect all the value chain from the production to the consumer.
Kenyans are already struggling with the high cost of living with the increase in prices of basic commodities such as food. Electricity bill has also increased and Kenyans are feeling the heat.