"But this pool should not account for more than Sh9 billion or five per cent of the national budget, even as lenders assume a 30 per cent default rate," says Robert Pollin, one of the authors.
The report, which also proposes a deep pay cut for formal sector employees to enable employers take in more workers, says that even as Kenya grapples with a more than 10 per cent unemployment rate, at least half of the working population lives in poverty.
According to the UNDP, an average formal private sector worker now supports one other person if they live in an urban area, and 1.3 other people if they live in a rural area.
This means that for the urban worker and his or her one dependant, the one wage on which the two people live puts them near the poverty line - especially in an environment of rising inflation. The report, which as the battle for presidency approaches its peak, is expected to add impetus on the rise of employment as a key election point this year.
Source: Business Daily
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