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{
"id": 1590953,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1590953/?format=api",
"text_counter": 168,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. John Mbadi",
"speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Hon. Speaker, to strengthen digital finance in Kenya, the Government will continue to implement the National Payment Strategy for the period 2022 to 2025 and fast-track finalisation of a National Policy on Digital Finance. In order to reform and modernise the national payment system, Central Bank of Kenya is doing the following: One, undertaking a comprehensive review of the National Payment System’s legal and regulatory framework. Two, implementing a fast payment system that seeks to address persistent challenges in interoperability, affordability, and the high cost of digital transactions; and Three, effective 1st July 2025, the Kenya Electronic Payment and Settlement System will transition to a 24/7 settlement capability. This will support round-the-clock trade, enable faster clearing of government payments, facilitate real-time business-to business transactions, and provide greater flexibility for consumers and financial institutions. Following the grey listing of the Republic of Kenya by the Financial Action Task Force in February, 2024, the Government has continuously, addressed the technical deficiencies identified in Kenya’s Mutual Evaluation Report, which was published by the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group in September 2024. As you are aware, one of the technical deficiencies identified in the Kenya’s Mutual Evaluation Report was lack of a Policy and Regulatory Framework to the Virtual Assets and Virtual Assets Service Providers. In order to regulate this sector, the Government has developed the Virtual Assets Service Providers Bill, 2025 which is currently before Parliament. I urge Hon. Members to fast-track its enactment. On capital Markets Developments, to further deepen the capital markets, the Government continues to review the legal and regulatory framework to address emerging issues in the sector. In particular, the Government overhauled the Public Officer Regulations and Collective Investment Schemes Regulations to spur uptake of products while ensuring that investors are protected. The Government has also approved new regulatory frameworks to support credit ratings and alternative investment funds, which have attracted a lot of interest from investors. Further, the Government is in the process of reviewing the regulatory framework for licensing, margin trading, and conduct of business for market intermediaries and mergers, acquisitions and takeovers. Once in place, these regulations will re-invigorate capital markets activity and make our capital markets more facilitative and efficient. To diversify the Government's sources of financing, a Sukuk bond has been issued, while other Sharia-compliant products are in the pipeline. The first Sukuk bond raised Ksh3.2 billion, which has been effectively, deployed in the Affordable Housing Programme and Pension Reforms. In the Tax Laws (Amendment) Act 2024, we introduced a number of incentives aimed at increasing disposable income for our senior citizens once they retire. I thank this honourable House for passing the Tax Laws (Amendment) Bill in December. We, among others, increased the tax-deductible amount, removed tax on all retirement benefits and introduced tax exemption on pension savings towards post-retirement medical schemes. Despite the reforms introduced in this sector, benefit adequacy remains a persistent challenge. Many retirees still find their pensions insufficient to meet their basic needs. The retirement benefits system predominantly covers the working population in the public and private sectors, to the exclusion of the unemployed population, who are the majority in the informal sector. To address this, The National Treasury, in collaboration with key stakeholders, is implementing the National Retirement Benefits Policy. This Policy outlines a clear, forward-looking strategy to address long-standing structural challenges, such as fragmented legal frameworks, exclusion of informal sector workers, limited medical cover for the elderly, weak portability mechanisms and inadequate dispute resolution structures. The 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."
}