Sessional Paper No. 01 of 1986 on Economic Management for Renewed Growth

Abstract

This Sessional Paper represents a departure from previous practice. In the past, changing economic conditions have required sessional papers on the economy to indicate adjustments in the ongoing development plans. The horizon of these mid-term sessional papers has been the same as the development plan itself. The situation in 1986 makes it imperative that this Sessional Paper takes a more fundamental and long-term approach than previous mid-term reviews. Kenya has come through a series of economic crises: the oil price rises of the 1970's and the decline in Kenya's terms of trade, domestic inflation of the early 1980s, the world recession of the same period, and the devastating drought of 1984. Kenya has coped successfully with these crises, which can be counted as a major accomplishment. But the cost has been high: economic growth has slowed to the point where average incomes have barely risen the late 1970s. But because the short-term problems have been brought under control, while progress has been made on reorienting the economy,1986 presents a ripe opportunity to look much further ahead, towards the end of the century to determine what kind of an economy Kenya is going to have then and how it is going to get there.