CREATE JOBS, MR PRESIDENT! The state of Kenya’s economy is such that unless the Jubilee government does certain critical things quickly, the economy will continue to lose the vision 2030 focus indefinitely. Mr President, begin by prioritizing the issue of interest rates, housing, energy, inflation management, security, food, transport and ultimately, job creation. Banks continue to rip-off Kenyans by imposing high 20%-plus interest rates in open defiance of all signals from Central Bank to lower rates to say, 2-4% above inflation currently at 4.2%. Mr President, issue a presidential decree on government leveraged banks to do so immediately- National Bank, Consolidated bank, KCB and Co-op Bank and fix the interest rate problem real quickly. This will create greater investor confidence, high domestic investments and accelerate job creation. Most Kenyans in the upper middle class, cannot afford mortgages, 50 years after independence. Go the Mauritius way and build hundreds of thousands of housing units using new cheap technology of building using manufactured panels so that many stop paying rent and start saving by paying rent-cum-mortgage while living inside the new homes. This way, rental investments would become unfavorable and would-be landlords would crowd their capital for industrial investments and large scale farming, leading to high job creation. Liberalize the energy sector. This will attract many investors to all manner of energy production that the government knows little about. Additionally, build power pylons quickly to tap the excess power from Ethiopia to lower energy costs all round, and then accelerate industrial investments and create more jobs. Admittedly, the Jubilee government is doing a lot on good macro-economic management by controlling inflation. But do more about yo-yo currency fluctuations caused by low exports. Build a modern rail network to lower transport costs…and therefore lower inflation, lower roads repair budgets and create more jobs because owners of trucks will opt to invest in industrial production. Begin the pledged irrigation of one million acres for food production to also lower inflation and create jobs. Turn over non-compliant police and revamp the entire force. Begin by gazetting all road blocks. Put cameras at the roadblocks so that bribe-taking by police is captured and culprits are interdicted immediately. And interdict police officers under whose watch repeat crimes take place. If you do all the above, Mr. President, you will come up with a steady current account which removes all the headaches for your government’s budgeting by ensuring a stable shilling. KARIUKI MUIRI KARATINA
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 14:20:53 +0000
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