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{
    "id": 778267,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/778267/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 346,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Ichung’wah",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1835,
        "legal_name": "Anthony Kimani Ichung'Wah",
        "slug": "anthony-kimani-ichungwah"
    },
    "content": "a 4.5 per cent growth in the years 2008 to 2012 and 5.2 per cent in the period between 2002 to 2007. It is good to temper that with realism and that is what a lot of Members have expressed concern about. If our economy is agri-based, then we either put agriculture right or tweak our economy not to depend so much on agriculture if it will remain to be rain-fed. We must, however, also appreciate the effort the Government has made. There are a lot of resources going into development of mega dams to make sure that we move away from rain-fed agriculture to irrigated agriculture amidst the problems we have with Galana Kulalu Project. However, there is also a projection, and the National Treasury was very keen to articulate it, that we want to move our GDP contribution of the manufacturing sector to 15 per cent by 2022. That will in a big way change our economy because the manufacturing sector also has a potential to create employment, wealth and grow our economy. With those very many remarks, let me mention something that the Leader of the Minority Party mentioned on borrowing alluding to the fact that Egypt is able to go for Eurobond at lower interest rates. Egypt is a country that has had its own problems. The tenure of the bond under which Egypt is borrowing is not the same as that of Kenya. If you are talking of a thirty-year bond, compare it to a thirty-year bond. It is not true that the entire bond was at 8.3 per cent. The ten-year bond and the 30-year bond had different rates. It is the same way the Egyptian bond would be cheaper or more expensive depending on the tenure and the risk by investors. It is worth noting that our bond was oversubscribed seven times amidst the protest that you saw even from the IMF. We must also appreciate that, as a sovereign nation, Kenya has a right to go to the international market with or without the approval of the IMF. We know the Bretton Woods institutions have their own problems vis-a-vis the perceived move of the African countries towards the East. They feel slighted by the African countries that go to borrow money, especially the concessionary loans, from the East. Without much ado, I beg to move and thank all the Members in the House for supporting this Motion. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}