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{
    "id": 1173466,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1173466/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kitui Rural, CCU",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. David Mboni",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13388,
        "legal_name": "David Mwalika Mboni",
        "slug": "david-mwalika-mboni-2"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Speaker. I rise to support this Motion to vary the public debt from Kshs9 to Kshs10 trillion. Debt is not a bad thing as long as it is utilised in productive sectors with high social economic impacts. If well utilised, it will increase the economic growth and income and reduce poverty. The country should be able to service its debts. If it is not able to, there is no need to borrow. In 2021, the World Bank carried out a study on the state of world debts which showed that all the developed countries have over 100 per cent debts to Gross Domestic Product ratio. An example is Japan whose debt to GDP ratio is 257 per cent and yet they are surviving. Our neighbour, Sudan, is at 210 per cent of the GDP. Greece is at 207 per cent of the GDP although they sometimes experience challenges in servicing their loans. The USA, which is a super power, is at 133 per cent of debt to GDP ratio. In Kenya, we are at 70 per cent, but we are complaining. I do not think we should complain. We should even increase our debt, but make sure it is well utilised. At the moment, the budget of this country is facing a financial gap which we need to fill. Each one of us has a project in his constituency or county which needs to be financed. The money we are collecting in tax revenue is only servicing debts which is about Kshs900 billion and paying for re-current expenditure, which is about Kshs700 billion. We, therefore, need to borrow to finance our budget. The incoming administration needs to do several things to reduce debt. First, we need to live within our means. We may not require to borrow. Secondly, we need to modernise our tax collecting system and expand our tax base. We have three sectors which are manufacturing, information communication and technology (ICT), finance and insurance, which contribute 17 per cent of our GDP and 53 per cent of tax revenue. These sectors are overtaxed! The country needs The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}