Kenya: Kenyatta approves US$141m fuel subsidy to cushion consumers from price hikes

Yesterday, President Uhuru Kenyatta approved an additional fuel subsidy of KES16.7bn (US$141m) to cushion consumers from further fuel price hikes. This means that diesel will continue to retail at KES140 per litre for the next month, gasoline at KES159.12, and kerosene at KES127.94. Without the intervention, diesel would have jumped 38 percent, gasoline by 32 percent, and kerosene by almost 42 percent. The subsidy appears to be a reversal in Kenya’s stance after National Treasury last month said it would halt the subsidies in the fiscal year that began 1 July 2022, as the spending was likely to inflate public debt to unsustainable levels and disrupt plans to ease the burden of liabilities.