Kenyans Transacted Over 330 Billion Shillings Via Mobile in July

Kenyans transacted a total of 332.35 billion shillings via mobile phones in the month of July according to data released by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK).

The transaction in July made it higher than had been expected, only, slightly lower than the month of March which stood at 337.11 billion shillings and December when the transaction closed the year at 332.62 billion shillings.

Market analysts had predicted that mobile transactions would dip following the move by the National Treasury to implement the 12 percent transactional fee up from 10 percent.

Kenyans have been transacting at a higher amount ever since the implementation of the directive and the implementation is now permanent following President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the controversial Finance Bill 2018.

The taxing of mobile money transactions targets to earn revenues to the treasury given the countries mobile money’s history. In data released at the end of 2017, Kenyans are said to have transacted at least 3.4 trillion shillings via mobile.

Kenya’s wealth closed 2017 at 7.75 trillion shillings. This shows that during the year, more than 45 percent of the country’s wealth passed through mobile.

Among the new taxes in the new law are the 8 percent Value Added Tax on petroleum products, 18 shillings on every liter of kerosene and 15 percent excise duty on phone calls and mobile data.

In the new law, salaried employees will be forced to part with 1.5 percent of their salary, with a similar amount from their respective employer that will be used in the construction of the affordable housing, part of the Big 4 Agenda that has widely been objected.

Analysts predict that the inflation for the month of September is set to spike as life becomes harder for the majority of Kenyans due to the skyrocketing cost of living.