Consumers are yet to feel relief more than a month since President Uhuru Kenyatta directed that VAT on goods and services be reduced from 16 to 14 per cent. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP The prices of essential commodities such as maize and wheat flour, soap, tea leaves, milk, rice and cooking oil, for instance, have remained relatively unchanged from last month.
The negative effects of low purchasing power have extended into the construction industry, where suppliers of equipment have had to contend with low sales.
It is more than a month since President Uhuru Kenyatta directed that Value Added Tax (VAT) on goods and services be reduced from 16 to 14 per cent.
This was meant to make basic commodities more affordable to consumers during the economic crisis precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite the reduction, the prices of many commodities on supermarket shelves and other retail outlets have remained the same, either because the reduced rate is too insignificant to be noticed or perhaps because the new VAT rates have not been effected.
SHORT-CHANGED
Whatever the case, the unchanged prices have made consumers and sellers alike feel short-changed, especially after the government promised that it would do everything in its power to cushion them against the economic downturn that has seen some face pay cuts and others close down their businesses.
The prices of essential commodities such as maize and wheat flour, soap, tea leaves, milk, rice and cooking oil, for instance, have remained relatively unchanged from last month.
A two-kilogramme packet of Ndovu maize flour, for example, which retailed at Sh116 in January, is still selling at the same price in supermarkets, and at about Sh120 in local shops. A litre of Kimbo premium cooking oil, which retailed at Sh241 in December last year now costs Sh240 at Carrefour.
Now that schools are closed and children are at home, the prices of other items such as baby products and toys, whose demand has gone up as parents try to keep their children occupied remain the same.
Miss Jane Wangui, a baby-products vendor on Ngong Road, says that this has affected her line of work because the steep prices have acted as a barrier between her and the customer.“I would be lying if I said that I have seen the 2 per cent reduction in VAT reflect in the prices at which I am getting my products, but at least we […]
