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{
    "id": 728663,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/728663/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 136,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Henry Rotich",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13142,
        "legal_name": "Henry Rotich",
        "slug": "henry-rotich"
    },
    "content": "a) Support Growth and Domestic Production; b) Reduce Income Inequality; c) Promote Job Creation; d) Improve Tax Administration and Compliance; and e) Enhance Social Security and Welfare. With this background, the rest of my Statement will cover the economic context around which this Budget is prepared and the progress made in various strategic areas aimed at creating jobs and delivering a better life for all Kenyans. Thereafter, I will share the Fiscal Policy and the framework for Financial Year 2017/2018 Budget and conclude with tax and other policy measures in the Finance Bill, 2017 that I have submitted today. When I presented the Budget last year, Brexit sounded like a mirage and the United States had just started a presidential election process whose outcome many could not have predicted. The global impact of these outcomes is yet to be felt. Nevertheless, I sense an inward mood in a number of advanced economies which could lead to protectionist policies and potentially weaken global trade and investments which could have a negative impact on global trade and on our exports. If this materialises, we will have to take mitigating measures to safeguard our exports and financial flows into Kenya. Global growth is projected at 3.4 percent in 2017 compared with an estimate of 3.1 percent in 2016. Economic growth for most sub-Saharan Africa countries has been slower in recent years partly due to the fall in world commodity prices, lower demand from China, as well as a much weaker global economic environment. In 2017, economic growth for the sub-Saharan Africa region is projected at 2.8 percent, up from the estimate of 1.6 percent in 2016. This slight recovery is supported by the firming up of oil prices, sustained infrastructure investment and buoyant service sectors. Hon. Speaker, our economy has continued to register robust growth despite the slower global and regional growth. The economy grew by 5.9 percent, 6.2 percent and 5.7 percent in the first, second and third quarters of 2016 respectively, bringing the average growth for the first three quarters to 5.9 percent. In 2017, the economy is projected to further expand by 5.9 percent, but growth could be lower if the ongoing drought persists and the slowdown in private sector credit is not reversed. Our economy is growing at twice the pace of global growth and more than twice that of sub-Saharan Africa. We are also growing faster than both Nigeria and South Africa, whose growth is projected at 0.8 percent in 2017 for each country. The resilience of our economy reflects continued macroeconomic stability, lower import bill, investment in infrastructure and recovery in tourism. Our vibrant and dynamic private sector has also contributed to this resilience."
}