Unga price set to hike after lapse of tax waiver
The expiry of waiver on charges and fees on imported maize on Friday will see Kenyans dig deeper into their pockets to purchase the staple commodity.
The 90-day waiver which had been in place since July 1 was meant to caution consumers from the already hiked prices which saw maize flour retail at Sh230 ahead of the August polls.
The move follows an internal memo directive by Theophilus Mutui, Managing Director of Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) on Wednesday to notify his deputy directors to revert charges on maize effective yesterday.
“The gazette notice No. 7499 directive for waiver of fees and charges for maize with effect from July 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022 refers. Please note that the waiver period will lapse on September 30. You are hereby advised to resume charges for maize and animal feeds from October 1,” Mutui stated.
Following the directive, farmers claim that they have no option but to increase the prices despite expected poor harvests occasioned by change in climate with low rains.
A gazette notice waiver by outgoing Agriculture cabinet secretary Peter Munya in July in a move by the government to pull down the price of a 2kg packet of flour which was retailing at a standard price of Sh225 was followed by a failed subsidy on sifted maize flour meant to reduce prices to retail at Sh100 per 2 kg packet resulting to massive hoarding of the product in the market.
Latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) claimed that Kenyans are set to be impoverished further as inflation hit 9.2 per cent in September attributed to the increase in cost of food, fuel and housing. Maize flour prices contributed the largest to the raise of inflation rate from 8.5 per cent in August to 9.2 per cent in September.
According to April – June economic review observation by the Central Bank of Kenya, Agriculture sector contracted by 0.7 per cent resulting from inadequate rainfalls.
However, as majority had anticipated, taxes on bottled water, alcohol, cigarettes, fruit juice and chocolate among other excisable products did not change following yesterday’s notice as Kenya Revenue Authority announced to revise the tax amounts to be in tandem with the inflation rate.
