NAIROBI, May 28 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday announced a tax relief proposal to exempt individuals earning 30,000 shillings (about 232 U.S. dollars) or less per month from Pay-As-You-Earn income tax.
Ruto said the plan, which will be submitted to parliament for approval, aims to cushion over 1.5 million low-income earners from severe cost-of-living pressures and expand household purchasing power.
"We can even find a way so that all those earning 30,000 shillings and less are left out of the tax bracket," he said at the National Prayer Breakfast in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
Ruto said his government has spent 216.2 million dollars over the past two months on price stabilization and value-added tax concessions to cushion consumers against rising costs.
"Without these interventions, diesel would be selling at 273 shillings and not 232 shillings," Ruto said, noting that transport operators understood the situation and voluntarily called off their strike last week.
To sustainably reduce the impact of global fuel shocks, the president said regional leaders are determined to build a local oil refinery, adding that construction will begin in 2027 to process crude oil from sources including Turkana County in northwestern Kenya, where extraction is already underway.
The Kenyan leader also urged African nations to mobilize domestic resources and reduce reliance on external debt, saying Africa holds four trillion dollars in pension funds and insurance schemes that could be unlocked for development.
"We must make our savings work for us instead of looking for the savings of others. We have to think outside the box," he added.
