He popped in, he read the Budget and flew out again

For the last one week, National Treasury cabinet secretary Henry Rotich has been a rather busy man.

On Tuesday night, he flew to the US to market Kenya’s Eurobond. And with a Budget speech to deliver in Parliament Thursday, he flew back in on Wednesday night, read the Budget and by 6pm he was on his way out of the country to the United Kingdom, again to market the Eurobond.

The government is desperately in need of money to finance the Sh1.8 trillion Budget and the Sh131.6 to Sh175.5 billion ($1.5 to $2 billion) Eurobond is critical to Kenya’s 2014/2015 financial plans as the government expects to use the funds to plug a hole in the Budget.

The journey to the issuance of the bond is also symbolic of the delicate balance that Mr Rotich has to strike between populism and fiscal pragmatism during his first year as Cabinet Secretary.

To clear the way for the Eurobond, the National Treasury earlier this year paid out Sh1.4 billion to two Anglo Leasing-type companies.

Although the decision authorised by President Uhuru Kenyatta, it went against the opinions of most law makers.

This is not the first unpopular decision that Mr Rotich has made during his first year at the National Treasury. Kenyans had many things to gripe about in the wake of his maiden Budget speech in June last year. However, commentators say that the long-time technocrat has largely stayed the course that had been set out by the Treasury long before he assumed the post of Cabinet Secretary.

COMFORTING THE MARKETS

“Most of what he has done has been predictable,” said Mavuno Capital Managing Director, Robert Bunyi. “There have been no sudden changes to policy. Predictability is good for macroeconomic stability and comforting to the markets.”

Mr Rotich was tasked with financing the Jubilee government’s election promises amid a tough economic climate characterised by election-related jitters, insecurity and volatility in the international markets. The measures taken to raise the needed funds were a bitter pill to swallow.

Civil society organisations threatened to lead an “Unga Revolution” to protest against proposals to raise taxes on basic commodities through a new Value Added Tax law which came into force last September.

Business was also not very enthusiastic of a plan to foot the bill for building part of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) through a 1.5 per cent levy on imports. There was also talk of reintroduction of the capital gains tax, although this is yet to materialise.

In his second budget speech, the Cabinet Secretary is once again not relenting on revenue collection and has promised to implement more reforms to the taxation regime with an eye on widening the tax net and improving efficiency within the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).

However, not all the measures taken at the National Treasury over the last one year were unpopular. Mr Rotich steered a committee that has analysed the high interest regimes in the country, coming up with proposals that will force local banks to be more transparent in their pricing for loans and services.

Mr Rotich, who was educated at the University of Nairobi and the Havard Kennedy School,  started his career at the Central Bank of Kenya in 1994 before moving to the Treasury as the head of macroeconomics in 2006.

He is among a number of Treasury employees who worked with the President during his tenure as Finance Minister that have seen their fortunes look up under the Jubilee government.

His  appointment as cabinet secretary reversed roles with some of his former superiors who are now reporting to him. Members of this team of senior managers have also served long with the Treasury and there have been no attempts since Mr Rotich’s appointment to shuffle the familiar faces.