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{
    "id": 1352681,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1352681/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 2441,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tetu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Geoffrey Wandeto",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "debate is unnecessary and unhelpful. My recommendation is for the establishment of a national debt registry. Debt is not a crime. Government borrowing is not a crime. All governments across the world operate on debt from other governments, multilateral lenders, and the domestic markets. Debt being a public issue, I see no reason for the National Treasury and the Executive not to seek transparency by having a national debt registry. I have said this here many times. Anyone who wants to access any information about any loan should have access to the national debt registry. The registry should include how much was borrowed, how it was used, the loan terms, any collateral issued, and when it is due. No loan is taken in secrecy. All these loans are borrowed with good intentions. This national debt registry should contain multilateral loans and domestic loans. Domestic loans like treasury bills, bonds, and infrastructure bonds are published by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). At each point, we should know how much the Government has borrowed from the people. This should include any guarantees given to government entities, any loans by county governments, and any money borrowed by government agencies. Hon. Temporary Speaker, even as we bring transparency into this debt situation, going forward, we must think of how we want to manage our debt. Debt should not be subject to speculation. It is not a secret that our debt level is quite high right now. Something needs to be done. I propose two things as I support this Report. One, we need to rein in wastages and corruption, especially unhelpful recurrent expenditure. We need to ensure that the few resources we have go to the productive economy. We must also ask ourselves what projects are undertaken by these loans. What is the return on investment? What can we invest in and get the highest returns either in terms of improving infrastructure to guarantee better access to markets or by building certain capacities so that the nation is more productive? These are the things that we must concern ourselves with. The other issue is that we must widen the tax base. As a country, we have to reduce our budget deficit. The only way to do this is not by borrowing more, but by widening the tax base so that we have enough for ourselves. This is because no country can grow if it does not produce its own resources either in form of taxes or levies. So, it is very important that we widen the resource base. When we borrow domestically, we also crowd the productive private sector. Part of the reason our interest rates have grown to 18 or 20 per cent is that you and I as borrowers are also competing with the Government for resources. The Government should widen the tax space so we have less domestic borrowing. Then, we supplement the deficit with foreign loans."
}