Nairobi — Kenyan fund managers have criticised a new tax on financial transactions, saying it risks inhibiting trading and reducing the country’s attractiveness to various investors. Forcing the government to rethink the levy would curb the revenue it needs to implement President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda, a development programme that seeks to boost agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare and home construction in the country. The tax is one of a raft of levies announced by treasury secretary Henry Rotich in his annual budget in June to fund record spending of 2.53-trillion shillings ($353bn) this fiscal year. The demand that a 0.05% tax be paid on amounts in excess of 500,000 shillings that move through the financial system, dubbed by Rotich as a Robin Hood tax, could cut investment returns in the pension industry by as much as 5%, Einstein Kihanda, chairman of the Fund Managers Association, said in a letter addressed to Rotich. "The likely impact of this action is asset shrin...
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