Kenya’s President William Ruto, sworn in as new President on 13 September 2022, has inherited an economy saddled with debt, inflation, joblessness and national pessimism. The International Monetary Fund has also added to his pain: it recently asked Kenya to broaden its tax base and scrap the fuel subsidy.
Broadening the tax base will mean bringing more “hustlers” – Ruto’s core support base of informal workers – into the tax net. That could annoy his political supporters. Scrapping fuel subsidies will raise prices and lead to further inflation, something that Ruto campaigned against. The latest fuel price review, that has resulted in high fuel prices, shows Ruto is serious on removing subsidies.
