Kenya lost at least Ksh500 billion in terms of GDP in the year 2020 due to Covid-19, President Uhuru Kenyatta has said.
The President also announced that Kenya’s economy had grown by 0.6 percent, against a projection of over 6 percent.
“This translates to a loss of approximately Ksh 560 billion of GDP arising from the resultant economic downturn. And this is the price we had to pay in 2020 for the bold decisions we made to contain this economic free fall,” he said.
According to President Kenyatta, Kenya’s economy is set to grow by over seven percent in the year 2021, amid Covid-19 effects on the economy.
“Further, projections indicate that, in spite of the COVID plunge, our economy is likely to bounce back and grow 7% in 2021. If we had not made the bold decisions of 2020, as is projected, our economy would, in 2021 contract by 15%. This would be worse than the Euro Area, -7.2%; India, -11.5%; and the United Kingdom, -10%,” said President Kenyatta.
“The pandemic afflicted and wounded many businesses to the point of collapse, while some are in the mode of recovery many also remained unbowed,” he added.
He however lauded Kenyan businesses, especially SMEs, for retrategising and coming back stronger, amid the challenges posed by the pandemic.
“Instead of giving in to the shock of lockdown and other COVID Protocols, they decided to re-tool their business models and reengineer their approach. Today, these enterprises, especially SMEs have sprung back with incredible innovations, capable of anticipating and responding to market shocks,” he said.
Even as the President announced the development, the most affected businesses during the period -bars and restaurants – will close by 9pm in containment measures.
The President has also the president extended the curfew (10pm to 5am) by 60 days.
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