By NICHOLAS WAITATHU and JAMES ANYANZWA
Lack of value addition initiatives on locally produced goods has continued to deny the country the opportunity to grow its export base. This has hurt Kenya’s balance of trade.
The Economic Survey 2013 indicates that value of total exports grew from Sh512.6 billion to Sh517.8 billion in 2012. This is more than half of the imports the country sourced from various world destinations.
During the review period Kenya sourced imports worth Sh1.33 trillion, accounting a 5.7 per cent increase from Sh1.3 trillion in 2011.
Devolution and Planning Secretary Anne Waiguru said on Thursday that the country’s trade balance worsened further by 8.7 per cent in 2012 compared to 46.7 per cent in 2011.
“The current account deteriorated to a deficit of Sh359.5 billion in 2012 from a deficit of Sh340.2 billion in 2011,” she said at the launch of The Economic Survey 2013.
For long, Kenya has relied on exporting local commodities in raw form thereby reducing their competence in the international markets.
President Uhuru during the State opening of the 11th Parliament supported the need for the country to spark an industrial revolution in the country. Waiguru said the deterioration in current account was occasioned mainly due to the widening of the visible trade deficit. “The capital and financial account recorded a higher surplus of Sh438 billion in 2012 compared to a surplus of Sh332.6 billion recorded in 2011,” she said.
But the overall balance of payments improved from a surplus of Sh21.8 billion in 2011 to a surplus of Sh123.2 billion in 2012.
