Are The Coffers Empty? Is KRA Meeting Its Targets?

There has been some loose talk that Kenya has no money. The talk has been too common to the effect of some Cabinet Secretaries saying that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is not collecting enough revenue. But the question is, are the coffers empty?

There is no doubt that the mandate of the Kenya Revenue Authority is to collect revenue on behalf of the government. Despite the prevailing economic challenges facing Kenyans, the Authority has tried to meet and even beat some of its targets.

As of December 8, 2023, KRA had collected 1.030 trillion shillings, maintaining an upward trajectory in revenue collection after recording a 15.8 percent growth in November. This is the first time KRA is hitting the one trillion mark in revenue collection.

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Some of the challenges that KRA encountered but managed to beat during the period; were the significant depreciation of the Kenyan shilling against the US dollar by 24.7 percent in November 2023 and 22.0 percent in July – November 2023. This, coupled with increasing prices of key products like oil has an effect of driving down import demand.

While import values (in Kenya Shilling terms) grew by 36.0 percent and 11.0 percent in November 2023 and July – November 2023 respectively, in dollar terms, the growth for the month was subdued to 9.0 percent, and a decline of 9.2 percent was recorded cumulatively.

Revenue performance was also affected by low domestic demand as indicated by the slowed Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) that averaged  47.18 points in July – November 2023 down from 48.66 points in July – November 2022.

According to KRA, it targets to collect 2.787 trillion shillings by the end of the Financial Year 2023/2024. “KRA is confident that it will continue with the upward trajectory and achieve the set target to enable the government to sustain the country’s economy.”

Instead of the above, I do not think KRA should be used as a scapegoat when it comes to the unavailability of money. My two cents.

Read Also: KRA Hits One Trillion Mark, Collects Ksh 1.030 Trillion As Of 8th December 2023