On 24th September 2022, Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Patrick Njoroge and Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ikur Yatani publicly differed on matters relating to GDP – Gross Domestic Product – and the economy and livelihoods of Mwananchi.
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) Governor Patrick Njoroge
The CBK governor spoke on Monday during the induction of Members of the National Assembly, stating that Kenyans are not interested in the country’s GDP but rather, in how the money collected by the state affects their daily wellbeing.
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Njoroge explained that whereas GDP is a key indicator of economic performance of a country, it cannot be the overring mechanism to gauge the overall life standards and economic wellbeing of the Kenyan citizens.
“You cannot eat GDP. It is not GDP that people are interested in. The issue is, the incomes that we are measuring, are they helping people?” he posed
He further stated that GDP is a means to an end and not an end itself, and that the ultimate goal is always improving the quality of life, especially for those that experience the worst of it.
Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ikur Yatani
But in an apparent response, outgoing Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani told newly-elected senators during the Senate induction on Thursday that former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government had delivered economic prosperity to Kenyans citing the county’s GDP.
“In the last one year, we realized a GDP growth of 7.5 per cent unheard of in the last 15 years,” he remarked.
CBK had in 2020 reported a decline of 0.3 per cent in the country’s economic growth before a rebound at 7.4 per cent in 2021. The country further experienced of 6.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2022.
Inheriting a dilapidated economy
Ikur Yatani, had also told off DP Rigathi Gachagua and other Kenya Kwanza leaders claiming that the new administration only found Ksh.93 million in the public coffers.
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The nation’s second in command in a tv interview in NTV had stated that they were inheriting a dilapidated economy from Uhuru Kenyatta.
Mr. Yatani, despite insinuating that it’s possible for Treasury to be nearly empty on any given day, explained that the government is funded daily and that there are competing needs that are taken care of daily.
“We raise revenue on daily basis and we fund the government on daily basis and there are competing needs,” he said.
