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"id": 17181,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/17181/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kenyatta",
"speaker_title": "The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance",
"speaker": {
"id": 168,
"legal_name": "Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta",
"slug": "uhuru-kenyatta"
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"content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, that is why I am saying that, maybe, it is just the mode of communication; by saying that the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) will not intervene, the reference was to the fact that there is no intention of reverting back to a policy of exchange controls. That is what he meant by not intervening, but he still has instruments available to him that are within the law, that he can continue to utilize. Some of them he has already put into effect; as I have said in my statement, the CBK will still continue to use other measures to intervene in accordance with the law, but there is no reversal of policy. Mr. Speaker, Sir, once again, on the issue of banks being involved, I was not here and I am not aware of that particular situation. I can repeat that I am not aware of that particular situation, and it did not come up even at the meeting that we had with the CBK Governor. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with regard to reducing pressure on the Dollar by having a mixed bag of currencies, that is already in place, and our reserves, even as a country, are a mixed bag. That continues so that there is no reliance on one single currency. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with regard to the increased absorption rate, I want to agree with the hon. Member that this, indeed, is a major problem. We have, indeed, been working with Ministries on the question of increasing the absorption rate, especially on donor- funded programmes. But this is a two-way traffic because we also have major problems in clearing and getting the necessary go-ahead from donor nations as well. This is something that was the subject of on-going discussions between implementing Ministries, the Treasury and donor countries. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with regard to the last question, as I said, I am not aware of any such banks. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the question by hon. Baiya and also by hon. Chanzu, the Government has various programmes that it has put in place, and that are all aimed at cushioning the poor. We have the cash transfers; these are all areas that we intend to expand. We also have various programmes under the Ministry of Special Programmes and also the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development; these are all aimed at helping cushion the very poor from the effects of the economic downturn. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the question of preferential treatment of Equity Bank, I am not aware of any particular bank being given any particular preferential treatment over any other. When it comes to Government dealings and transactions, the Government deals with a variety of financial institutions in this country. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with regard to poor working relations between the players and the Treasury, once again I think we can say there is poor communication, but we are working hard to improve on that. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with regard to what the two principals will do, I think that is a question that will be best answered by others. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on why we had to import maize, we had to do so because at the time--- Indeed, it was even a demand by this same very House, because we had a shortage and we were faced with a looming drought and a major famine – a famine that was even made worse by the influx of refugees from neighbouring countries, mainly Somalia. There was need for us to import maize to address the shortfall that we had – a situation that I believe is being reversed as we see now crops coming to the market from our local farmers. Mr. Speaker, Sir, on the question by hon. Langat about long-term measures, ultimately the key to being able to have a long-term solution is to work towards increasing our own exports, diversifying our exports and fast-tracking, for example, the Bill to do with mineral exploitation. We have plenty of minerals in this country; where we are in a position to begin exploiting some of these and expanding our export base, we will do so. This will, in the long-term, go a long way to also reduce our dependence on imported energy; we should also expand geothermal and hydropower generation. This is an area where the Government has already has put money, and will continue to put a lot of money into, so as to reduce our dependence on imported energy, while at the same time increasing our own exploration capacity to see how and when we can eventually drill our own oil. Mr. Speaker, Sir, with regard to rising Government expenditure, this is something that has been an on-going effort by the Government. Again, because of the problems that we have been facing, we have to go through heavy recurrent expenditure. I hope this is something that we will be able to tackle with the Budget Committee and see areas of making savings, so that, indeed, the Government can also contribute towards helping lower the inflation rate as well as demand for hard currency for travel. In this regard, I will also be looking to you to help in reducing the travel budget for this institution. Mr. Speaker, Sir with regard to the question by hon. Karua, indeed, the role of the CBK is that of regulator and also one of monetary policy in our country. Given the fact that all these issues are inter-related, we will also need regular consultations between the central Government and the CBK to be able to have a co-ordinated approach, given the fact that even when it comes to our own borrowing, in order to be able to implement our own fiscal policies, the CBK does act, indeed, as our agent in mobilizing these resources from the domestic market. So, therefore, there is need for regular consultations on matters, especially when they have to do with overall maintenance of macro economic stability. So, those kind of discussions will definitely be necessary as we go forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Sir."
}