Economy

KRA collection in first five months points to another year of shortfall

KRA

Participants at a Kenya Revenue Authority training on iTax. PHOTO | FILE

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has collected an average of Sh94.8 billion per month in the first five months of the fiscal year, setting the stage for another period of revenue shortfall.

That performance is 14.6 per cent below the Sh111 billion monthly average anticipated by the Treasury at the start of financial year.

Figures published in the Kenya Gazette last week indicate that the taxman had collected a total of Sh473.8 billion by end of November, Sh81.2 billion short of the Sh555 billion anticipated when the years started in July.

If the trend continues, the Treasury can only expect an overall tax revenue of Sh1.14 trillion or Sh194.5 billion below the official target.

The government is, however, running ahead of its own target on non-tax revenues, having collected a total of Sh20.4 billion in five months, translating to an average of Sh4.05 billion per month.

The official annual non-tax collection target of Sh44.4 billion imply a monthly performance of 3.7 billion.

Treasury also appears to be doing well on domestic loans, having borrowed just Sh12.14 per month on average or Sh145.66 billion over the five-month period compared to official limit of 33.88 billion per month or Sh406.6 per year.
Kenya has also managed to keep its borrowing from foreign governments and international organisation at an average of Sh2.22 billion per month over the last five month as opposed to official target of Sh4.2 billion per month.

READ: KRA seeks Sh200m to hire consultant over tax shortfall

The government had received a total of Sh732.9 billion from various sources in the first five months against an overall 2016/17 collection target of Sh2 trillion. Over the five months, a total of Sh579.69 billion was released to national government departments.

The Treasury disbursed Sh179.4 billion to cover operation costs of the national government while Sh118.7 billion financed development projects.

The 47 counties received a total of Sh95.6 billion over the first five months of the fiscal year with Nairobi City taking the single largest allocation of Sh6.7 billion.