Uhuru delivers budget statement

Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta has delivered a ministerial statement in Parliament outlining the financial proposals and taxation measures for the 2011/2012 financial year.

Among the highlights of his statement was the removal of excise duty on kerosene to cushion Kenyans against the high cost of living.

Mr Kenyatta also proposed to reduce import duty on motorcycle ambulances to ensure pregnant rural women deliver in hospitals.

He also proposed to abolish the filing of tax returns by salaried employees whose Pay As You Earn (PAYE) has been paid to the exchequer by their employers.

However, beer lovers will have to contend with higher prices for the favourite tipple after Mr Kenyatta proposed higher taxation. Also affected will be smokers.

Below are excerpts of his statement as delivered to a packed National Assembly including President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

17:00 The Finance minister thanks President Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, government staff and Treasury technocrats for their role in his delivering the 2011/2012 budget statement.

16:57 Kenyatta: Treasury received over 3,000 submissions from the public through various means including social media such as facebook and twitter.

16:54 Mr Kenyatta proposes to abolish filing of tax returns by employees whose remittances are only PAYE.

16:50 He proposes to increase beer and cigarette taxes.

16:48 Mr Kenyatta proposes to increase withholding tax to certain professions from five to 10 percent.

16:46 He proposes to remove import duty on motorcycle ambulances to reduce incidences of home births especially in rural areas.

16:45 Kenyatta: Allow designated wheat importers to bring the commodity at zero percent instead of 10pc.

16:43 He proposes to remove excise duty on kerosene, retain 20pc excise duty on diesel to cushion Kenyans against high food and fuel prices.

16:37 Kenyatta: Security apparatus such as CCTV cameras, metal detectors are import duty exempt to insulate the country against terrorism.

16:35 Mr Kenyatta proposes to reduce import duty of ingredients to manufacture animal feeds from 10pc to zero.

16:32 Tax measures coming up.

16:30 Mr Kenyatta says he has received Sh41.1bn as commitment from development partners as grant to finance expenditure.

16:26 Sh787bn is total revenue projection for the next financial year, says Mr Kenyatta.

16:24 He says Sh4.2bn will cater for the final phase of IDPs' settlement to enable the genuinely displaced live in a dignified manner.

16:22 Mr Kenyatta says Sh845m will go towards expanding programmes to ensure urban food security.

16:19 He says youth should nurture their talent in sports and proceeds to allocate Sh210m towards competitive sport in each constituency that will get one million each.

16:17 Government will provide tax breaks to firms making available internship programmes that harness the skills of Kenyan youth, says Mr Kenyatta.

16:15 He says the government has allocated Sh210m to scale up youth empowerment programmes to reduce vulnerability of youths under the Kazi Kwa Vijana plan.

16:13 Kenyatta: Sh1.2bn to finance the expansion of the Mwea irrigation scheme.

16:11 Mr Kenyatta sets aside Sh950m to start implementing irrigation programmes to benefit the people of Turkana, who are rainfall-deprived.

16:08 Government initiating a countrywide irrigation project and as a first bold step, Mr Kenyatta allocates Sh10.2 bn under the Ministry of Finance.

16:05 Mr Kenyatta says Sh6.4m will go towards provision of water to constituencies and improve water harvesting techniques.

16:02 He says government has allocated Sh100bn to agriculture as part of realisation towards making Kenya a food sufficient country.

15:59 Kenyatta: Government advances Sh3.7bn loan grant to CDF board for MPs to complete projects in readiness for handing over to county governments.

15:56 Mr Kenyatta says he has allocated Sh17.2bn for CDF.

15:52 He says the government has put aside Sh300million under the Education Ministry to provide sanitary towels for the girl child and urges NGOs to complement these efforts.

15:49 Mr Kenyatta says Sh840million under the Education Ministry towards school bursaries for needy school-going children.

15:48 The Finance minister says government has allocated Sh397 million for early childhood development.

15:46 Mr Kenyatta says Sh64bn has been allocated for health service delivery plan to purchase ARVs and modern equipment for screening cervical cancer patients among other things.

15:43 He says the government has allocated billions to implement the constitution including building offices at the constituency level and the preparation of the General Election.

15: 42 Government fully committed to implementing the Common Market Protocol to ensure it comes to a fruitful conclusion so as to benefit Kenyans, says Mr Kenyatta.

15:39 Mr Kenyatta says government is encouraging banks to invest in ICT including e-banking to embrace developments in transacting business.

15:34 He says the domestic market needs to be made competitive including decentralising licensing, and use of electronic documentation.

15:33 Kenyatta: Government will expand the rail system to ease congestion and ensure workers arrive at their workplace in time.

15:30 The Finance minister says Sh109bn has been allocated to the Roads Ministry to improve infrastructure and roads especially those linking to regional markets to open up trade.

15:26 He says budget caters for long term sustainability of food produce by allocating more resources to agriculture.

15:24 Mr Kenyatta tells Parliament that government must rely on private sector to realise growth including use of small and medium enterprises.

15:22 He says economic aspects remain strong but increased cost of fuel and food constitute a challenge.

15:17 Mr Kenyatta says government will continue to implement provisions of Vision 2030 including increasing capital at the grassroots.

15: 15 Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta is reading a ministerial statement outlining the financial proposals and taxation measures for the 2011/2012 financial year.