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{
    "id": 1355172,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1355172/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 306,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung’wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "I hear somebody behind me speaking about the consumption of alcohol. I am speaking about the consumption of fuel, not alcohol. I do not care whether the consumption of alcohol goes up or down as long as they can pay taxes. Those who have been listening to critics of this administration know the critics have been saying that we have reached the optimum level of the curve of the tax generation cap; that we can no longer generate more revenue from some of these taxes. I just want to speak to the critics of this administration and tell them that we are yet to get there. The VAT on fuel is the first evidence that there are opportunities we are yet to exploit to broaden our tax base. As was alluded to earlier, we have had our challenges besides those of revenue like the fluctuation in foreign exchange and interest rate increments both at the domestic level and even on the international markets. If you look at what happened in America after the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Government had many subsidies for their people. It created a huge inflationary situation in their country. To help mop up the excess liquidity in the market, they increased their Fed Fund Rates almost to 5.56 per cent and 6 per cent. In a way, that has affected our interest rates locally. Besides what the Chair of the Budget and Appropriations Committee has alluded to, we have had to increase our local interest rates to attract investments into our country, especially from funds that come to invest in the Government securities of our country. That means that our cost of servicing our debt has also gone up with interest rates. Members will note from this Supplementary Estimates I that close to Ksh145 billion is an expenditure going to service our debt."
}