Kenyan President William Ruto finally speaks after the newly proposed 2024 Finance Bill goes through changes.

Kenya Kwanza Parliamentary Group met at State House, Nairobi, on Tuesday, April 18, 2024.

MPs and Senators were taken through the changes made to the Finance Bill 2024 by Finance Committee Chairman Kimani Kuria.

President William Ruto, who was addressing a gathering at the State House, said the changes to the Finance Bill have taken into account the views of the people and other stakeholders during public participation sessions.

As much as there has been chaos all over the country and people complaining online, he felt that the country did also manage to learn about the Finance Bill, how the country is run, and, most importantly, how the budget is divided.

“This is the best thing that happened to Kenya. I am very happy, as a leader in Kenya, that we are having conversations on issues that are of the nature of our country.

Today, Kenyans know that there’s something called the Finance Bill. Today, Kenyans know that we have a debt problem. They know that there’s a connection between the taxes we raise and the services we get, and the difference it makes in not exposing our country to debt.

That’s a good place to be; let’s continue this conversation.” President William Ruto shared.

READ ALSO: HERE ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR CHANGES MADE TO THE 2024 FINANCE BILL

The president did also say that the government is making efforts to curb the importation of products that can be locally produced, thus protecting local manufacturing and securing jobs for the people.

“The stability you see in the foreign exchange regime is a result of our deliberate policies to reduce imports of things that are produced locally,” the President said.

At the same time, President Ruto said the Executive and the Legislature will continue to work together to make the right decisions for the country.

“I am also very happy because we are beginning to see institutions working in Kenya.

As the executive, we have made proposals to the legislature. The legislature has interrogated those proposals, and the public has interrogated those proposals and recommended their feelings and ideas through public participation.” President Ruto shared.

President Ruto went on to add that tough decisions have yielded fruits, citing the drop in inflation from 9 percent in 2022 to 5.1 percent in May and the strengthening of the shilling against the dollar.