Kenya slashes unpopular tax on petrol by half [The Morning Call]

Following concerns and a backlash over rising fuel prices affecting cost of living, Kenya’s government has approved a 50 percent reduction on a new tax on petroleum products.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday in a televised address proposed the 50 percent cut and promised expenditure cuts across government departments.

Kenya introduced the 16 percent value-added tax on gasoline on the 1st of Sept saying it would help raise around $345.8 million to plug a budget deficit of 5.9 percent of gross domestic product GDP.

But Kenyatta now says he wants to find “a delicate balance between short-term pain with long-term gain”.