President Ruto defends tax increases while praising the economy’s stability.
President William Ruto has defended his decision to raise tax rates because it has helped stabilize the economy, which he claims was in a precarious condition.
During an interview with DW News on Tuesday, President Ruto bragged about stabilizing a “debt-sliding” economy, which was accomplished by increasing tax rates.
“We have not proposed any punitive tax increases. We are in charge of the economy, and everyone appreciates that we have stabilized the economy,” he said.
In addition, the head of state argued that the nation’s access to international markets has opened the door for additional investment.
“When I took over, we could not access international financial markets; today, we can access any international market because they have witnessed the stability we have brought,” he said.
President Ruto reaffirmed his commitment to providing affordable basic goods in the coming days after acknowledging that commodity prices must be restrained from their rapid ascent.
According to him, Kenya has already received a shipment of food products, which is a step toward achieving his objective.
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“Yes, we have a crisis of high commodity prices,” he said, referring to fertilizer, fuel, and food.
He added, “We have registered 5 million farmers, we are providing them with fertilizers and seeds, we are importing food from around the world, and some of the imports arrived last week to begin taming commodity prices.”
“We are making long-term investments in irrigation, and this will be part of my discussion with German officials about how we can work together to transform our rainfed agriculture into irrigated agriculture.”
President Ruto, weighing in on the anti-government demonstrations led by the Azimio la Umoja coalition, asserted that the protests are motivated by the August 2022 General Election results and not the alleged high cost of living.
“The riots in Nairobi are not so much about the cost of living as they are about some settled election results,” he said.
“Of course, because the cost of living is a sensitive issue, our competitors are attempting to capitalize on it, but I believe Kenyans are much more astute.”
Beginning on March 26, President Ruto is on a four-day visit to the Federal Republic of Germany and the Kingdom of Belgium.
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