NAIROBI, DEC 17 – President William Ruto held a press conference where he discussed various updates on the country’s economy and how he plans to improve it by reducing imports and other measures.
He emphasized the need to invest in agriculture to reduce the 500 million dollars worth of food imports. He also announced plans to stop importing goods that can be manufactured locally to boost the economy and stabilize the exchange rate.
The head of state mentioned that more Kenyans will be encouraged to work abroad, with the first 10,000 expected to leave in January. “The first 10 thousands of Kenyan are going to work in foreign country by January,” president Ruto said.
Ruto’s foreign travels
Ruto addressed concerns about his frequent travels, stating that he has traveled extensively to address important matters concerning Kenya.
“I have travelled more than former president? Yes. And I have travelled not as a tourist. I have travelled to sort out the matters of Kenya,” Ruto said.
He highlighted the efforts to salvage the country from crisis. “If I didn’t package what I have packaged to salvage our country from going over the cliff, we would be talking a different story,” Ruto stated.
In the supplementary budget, the government has reduced the budget for travel and entertainment by 50 percent, amounting to approximately 11 billion shillings.
“In the supplementary budget ,we have cut the budget for travel and entertainment by 50 per cent.This is about 11 billion shillings that we have reduced,” Ruto added.
Economic growth
Regarding the economy, President Ruto mentioned that inflation has been reduced from over 9 percent to 6.8 percent. He also stated that Kenya’s economy is growing at 5.4 percent and is ranked as the 29th fastest-growing economy globally, according to World Bank figures.
President Ruto emphasized the goal of producing more goods domestically rather than being dependent on exports.
“We are going to stop importing domestics commodities that can be manufactured in Kenya so that we can produce our own. The economy is adjusting towards where we want to go,” Ruto said.
President Ruto assured that the country is now out of debt distress and the economy is stable. However, he acknowledged that there are still challenges ahead and efforts are being made to navigate through them.
“We are now out of debt distress. Our economy is now stable, the difficult patch is still there, we still have to navigate. All we have done is to navigate the cliff,” he stated.
