President Uhuru Kenyatta has a Ksh141 billion plan that would help avert the shutdown of the economy over the Coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement released by PSCU on Friday, March 21, the president announced that he had undertaken some measures including the release of Ksh7.4 billion by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) to be injected into the economy.
Ksh7.4 billion was rendered worthless after their holders failed to beat the September 30, 2019 deadline to exchange them with new Ksh1,000 notes.
The president also announced to the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) that the State would clear pending bills and value-added tax (VAT) refunds in the next 30 days to give a boost to the economy which is already feeling the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We want to focus on what is going to happen after. Critically we all recognize that the volume of business has gone down. and we need to ensure that we have cashflows to be able to keep ourselves afloat at such hard times," he stated.
According to The Standard newspaper on Saturday, March 21, the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in a joint communique with (KEPSA) stated it had a team to facilitate the clearance of 6,000 VAT refund cases worth Ksh27.6 billion that were outstanding as at October 31, 2019, by April 2020.
The publication further indicated ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) need to clear Ksh47.3 billion in outstanding pending bills to suppliers while counties owe suppliers Ksh58.1 billion.
The president, while offering the commitments to the private sector, directed that they reciprocate the measures by the government to cushion the average citizen from heavy losses during this period.
"We are looking for you to help ensure that Kenyans remain employed. Again, as has been stated, we all recognize that the majority of our people live based on their daily wage.
"We all need to see what we can do to ensure that they are engaged for them to be able to sustain their families. We do not want to see that crashing down because again, that is going to be a problem for all of us," he stated.
The president further explained that despite the measures the government was planning to undertake, he was still cognizant that the pandemic was going to have a hard hit in the economy.
"Yes, you will take a hit, we will take a hit, but together, we must protect the social fabric of our society which is keeping our people gainfully employed and engaged.
"As the government also, we will ensure that our safety net programs, cash transfers to our most vulnerable groups are not only continued, but stepped up so that it can also include the urban poor because they are also going to be experiencing a direct negative impact from all of this," he stated.
