Kenya's executive has agreed to pay cuts as the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to rise, President Uhuru Kenyatta announced on Wednesday.
President Kenyatta
President Kenyatta and his deputy will take an 80% pay cut, while their ministers and their assistants will take pay cuts ranging from 20% to 30%.
The President also announced a raft of measures to save jobs and by extension the country’s economy.
These include:
- Slashed liquidity ratios, lowered interest rates, and a struggle to find a balance between social distancing and a largely informal economy, since the country’s first confirmed case two weeks ago
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A ban on imports of second-hand clothing, colloquially known as mitumba, a sector which employs tens of thousands across the country.
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Tax relief to low income earners (earning up to Shs. 24,000, ($240), and gave tax cuts to individuals, small businesses, and corporations.
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Suspension of the country’s three credit reference bureaus, which among them have about 2.5 million Kenyans negatively listed and unable to obtain credit from banks or fintech apps, beginning 1 April.
