Finance Bill 2025 and the urgent need for moral audit of our economy

In many ways, 2025 is shaping up to be a historic turning point. Just weeks ago, the IMF signalled the dawn of a new global economic order—one that will replace frameworks that have governed global finance for nearly 80 years. The Catholic Church is now led by its first US pontiff, Pope Leo XIV. His chosen name is no coincidence: Pope Leo XIII, his namesake, was renowned for his concern about the rights and welfare of workers during the Industrial Revolution. Now, Pope Leo XIV has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) presents serious threats to human dignity, justice, and labour.

These seismic shifts underscore the urgent need for a moral audit of our economic architecture. The question before us is: Can our financial system still defend the values of fairness, dignity, and shared prosperity in an age of AI, debt, and digital capitalism?

The Industrial Revolution transformed economies, but left behind deep-seated social inequities. Mechanised manufacturing benefited capital owners while disenfranchising workers. William Blake famously lamented this loss of humanity, describing the era as a time when “All the Arts of Life, they changed into Arts of Death.” In response, Pope Leo XIII issued the encyclical Rerum Novarum, calling for the amelioration of "the misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class."

Today, we face a similar reckoning. The rise of artificial intelligence is poised to disrupt labour markets globally. Yet, instead of proactive regulation, we are met with inadequate policy guardrails. Workers in both developed and developing countries are unsure of their place in this new machine-led order.

Kenya finds itself at a critical juncture. The 2025 Economic Survey paints a sobering picture: The economy is growing at its slowest pace since the Covid-19 pandemic. Of the Sh4.2 trillion budget, a staggering Sh1 trillion is allocated solely to interest payments on debt. This has crowded out the private sector, resulting in a decline in job creation from 848,000 in 2023 to 782,300 in 2024.

Concurrently, nearly a million students completed high school last year, entering an economy with diminishing opportunities. Our cities, once vibrant with promise, now echo with the frustrations of broken dreams. This is not merely a crisis of growth—it is a crisis of moral and social equity.

Kenya's Finance Bill 2025 offers a telling reflection of the country's economic priorities. Among its most alarming provisions is the proposed deletion of Section 59A of the Tax Procedures Act, which currently protects individuals and businesses from sharing data that includes trade secrets or customer information. If passed, this amendment would grant the tax authorities unchecked access to private and personal data, potentially violating the constitutional right to privacy under Article 31.

In a world increasingly driven by data, this is not a technical footnote—it is a red flag. Compliance must never come at the cost of civil liberties. Even more troubling is the Bill's treatment of digital lenders. Rather than regulating or reining in their operations, it proposes to legitimise over 700 unregulated digital lenders by imposing an excise duty. These entities have been linked to predatory lending practices that disproportionately affect young Kenyans, often triggering financial ruin and mental health crises. Instead of safeguarding consumers, the government appears more interested in taxing exploitation than ending it.

Time has come to reframe our economic conversation. Growth metrics alone cannot define the success of a nation. We must ask: Who benefits, who bears the burden, and what values are upheld? A more just economic system is within reach. But it requires bold choices. The Finance Bill should be revisited with concurrent public scrutiny and civil society participation. Privacy protections must be reinforced, not dismantled. Digital finance must serve development, not desperation. And the youth must be at the centre of economic planning, not on its periphery.

Mr Gichinga is Chief Economist at Mentoria Economics. Ms Denise is a Public Policy and  Governance student