Kenya's economy is forecast to grow by 6.4 percent in 2021 from an estimated 0.6 percent in 2020, the National Treasury said on Monday.Ukur Yatani, cabinet secretary of the National Treasury and Planning, said that there has been an improvement in economic activity in the third and fourth quarters of 2020, albeit at a slow pace, following reopening of the economy but pickup is weak.
"Consequently, growth is projected to bounce back to 6.4 percent in 2021 from the projected 0.6 percent in 2020," Yatani said in the draft 2021 Budget Policy Statement (BPS).
The National Treasury official noted that the stable macroeconomic environment, turn around in trade as economies recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the expected favorable weather that will support agricultural output will support the growth outlook this year.
He revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant containment measures adversely affected businesses and economic activities last year.
"As a result, our economy contracted by 5.7 percent in the second quarter of 2020 from a growth of 4.9 percent in the first quarter of 2020 largely due to significant contractions in the services and industry sub-sectors," he added.
Yatani observed that through building on the gains made under the Economic Stimulus Program, the government will roll out the Post COVID-19 Economic Recovery Strategy which will mitigate the adverse impacts of the pandemic on the economy and further reposition the economy on a steady and sustainable growth trajectory.
He said that going forward, revenue collection in the current financial year is expected to spring back buoyed by the improving economic environment, tax policy and revenue administration measures that have been put in place.
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