The Price of National Profligacy

Your daily dose of financial news

Hello 👋 

It's Brian from The Kenyan Wall Street. 

On our top stories today :

▶️ ️ Understanding Kenya's debt position and what it means to you as a citizen.

▶️ Lobbyists want gov't to ‘tax the rich’

▶️ NCBA bank takes over Unga Group's loan owed to ABSA bank

💵💷💶Every Kenyan ‘Owes’ KSh 201,439.71 in Public Debt

Our CEO Andrew Barden takes you down a detailed analysis of Kenya's public debt, which stood at KSh 10.6 Trillion as per the latest records. This means that every Kenyan needs to pay about KSh 201,439.71 to repay the national debt. Based on these figures, the country owes KSh 5.41 Trillion owed domestically (to Kenyans and local businesses) and KSh 5.15 Trillion owed internationally. Debt can be a very political topic in Kenya, especially when the risk of sovereign default hangs over our head. This analysis seeks to understand how we got here, extenuating how it weighs down on our economy and future generations. Read this article here…

💰 Lobby Group Asks Government to Tax the Rich

The Treasury has an uphill task determining which sectors it will tap into to garner revenue and slash reliance on foreign and domestic debt. A lobby group, the National Taxpayers Association (NTA), thinks it has a solution to unburdening low-income earners who bear the brunt of VAT hikes. Introducing a wealth tax for high net worth individuals. NTA proposes that those with a net worth of more than US$100 million will be charged 5% while those ranked between US$3 million to US$100 million will be charged 3%. Based on their estimates, more than KSh 100 billion annually will be netted from this wealth tax on key assets. There will be barriers in implementing this, the lobby projecting political interference and capital flight, but it believes the tax would be inevitable if the government intends to stem illicit wealth flows and expand the tax base. What else does this report propose?

🏦 NCBA Bank Takes Over Unga Group’s KSh 860mn Loan from Absa

NCBA Bank Kenya has taken over a KSh 860 million loan from Absa Bank Kenya to Unga Group, which was due in June 2024. The listed miller took a loan with a 6-year term KSh 860 million loan issued in 2017 to finance the purchase and construction of a new wheat milling plant in Eldoret. But…The NCBA loan has a higher interest rate than Absa – currently charged at the Central Bank Rate (CBR) plus 6.35% Margin to Absa’s interest rate of the CBR plus a 3% margin. Read the full article here…

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Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend!