HIGHER TAXES, JOB CUTS AS IMF RETURNS
NAIROBI - Kenya has entered a multibillion deal with the International Monetary Fund aimed at responding to the next phase of Covid-19 and reducing debt levels.
The three-year US$2.4 billion loan deal follows an assessment by the IMF team led by Mary Goodman between December and February 4.
“Kenyan authorities and the IMF mission team have reached agreement on economic and structural policies that would underpin a 38-month programme under the Extended Fund Facility and Extended Credit Facility arrangements for about US$2.4 billion.
“The staff-level agreement is subject to IMF management approval and Executive
Board consideration, which is expected in the coming weeks,” he said adding that the programme will support the next phase of the country’s Covid-19 response and the authorities’ plans for a strong multi-year effort to stabilise and begin reducing debt levels relative to GDP, laying the ground for durable and inclusive growth over the years to come.
Kenya was hard hit at the onset of the Covid-19 crisis, but growth has been recovering since mid-2020 and heading into 2021. The authorities’ forceful early actions cushioned the pandemic’s economic impact, and real GDP growth is projected to have contracted by just -0.1 per cent in 2020.
Inflation remained within the central bank’s target band, reaching 5.7 percent in January, while financial sector vulnerabilities have been contained and the banking system remains well capitalised overall.
The external sector proved resilient against the backdrop of the shock, with horticultural exports and remittances performing well. The reopening of schools and removal of pandemic containment measures are expected to underpin a growth rebound to 7.6 percent in 2021, even as some sectors of the economy face continuing headwinds.
The Kenyan authorities have begun to roll back some of their extraordinary economic support measures.
With the pickup in activity, the earlier temporary personal and corporate income tax cuts, as well as the reduced VAT rate, were discontinued at
end-December, shoring up tax revenues.
To maintain the cushion for the low-income earners and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises, the Authorities did not reverse the personal relief on income tax and the lower turnover tax (one percent) for small businesses introduced in April 2020.
Many households and businesses continue to benefit from the temporary debt relief agreements reached with their banks, and borrowers accounting for a total of 54.2
percent of loans had entered such rescheduling agreements by end-2020.
The authorities’ decision to pause fiscal adjustment this year will allow accommodating health, social, and development spending to support the recovery, complemented by accommodative monetary policy.
The mission team agreed with the authorities on a programme to support the next phase of their Covid-19 response. STANDARD, Kenya.
ZAMBIA has in the recent past been recording high incidences of spousal killings. Spousal kilning is a scenario where spouses kill each other.
Spousal killing also includes lovers killing each other. The reasons giving rise to spousal killing include infidelity, petty jealousy and misunderstanding, among others.
It is evident that there could be misunderstanding in intimate relationships quite all right. This is normal. It becomes a problem when couples fail to resolve their marital differences.
People contemplating marriage must undergo premarital counselling. The premarital counselling sessions can be provided by the church leaders and relatives of the bride and the groom. This is important in that it prepares the potential couple on how best to resolve some problems.
Guns, knives and iron bars, among others have been used in spousal killings in the recent past. This is a worrying scenario and surely amicable solutions must be found to deal with the problem.
There have been incidences where the husband shot dead his wife and vice versa because of infidelity. Infidelity arises in a situation where the husband flirts with another woman. It can also involve the wife flirting with another man.
It has been shown that some people resort to killing their spouses and lovers because of anger. In this regard, there is need to manage anger which can subsequently result in temperament. When a person loses his temper, he or she will do a nasty thing like murdering someone.
One thing worth mentioning here is that there are disappointments in intimate relationships. On this score, it is wise to accept what has transpired and move on with life. Suffice to say, killing your lover or spouse is not the solution.
THE State has closed a case in which Rumphi Enterprises Limited managing director Charity Gondwe is charged with one count of alleged theft.
In this case, Gondwe, 45, of Makeni Bonaventure in Lusaka, is charged with allegedly stealing a cleaning machine belonging to another cleaning company
Particulars of offence are that Gondwe, whilst acting together with others, stole a Numatic floor polisher machine worth K48, 000, the property of Nemchem International Limited.
The machine was discovered being used at Zambia Centre for Accountancy Studies (ZCAS) where Rumphi had a cleaning contract.
Lusaka Chief Resident Magistrate Lameck Mwale closed the case after three last prosecution witnesses, including the arresting officer, testified in the matter which started in November 2019.
Mr. Mwale has set next Wednesday February 23, 2021 as the date for ruling on whether or not Gondwe has a case to answer.