Updated Sat, May 28th 2016 at 00:11 GMT +3Suppliers want to charge the Government to pay interest for delayed payments after delivery of goods and services, broadly known as pending bills. It is the first time that private sector suppliers are mulling over charging the government interest on pending bills, some running over into subsequent financial years. Mr Kenyatta taunted the private sector players to start with clean up and promptly settle payments among themselves, through a their own framework before asking the State to pay interest on delayed debt settlements. Levying interest on late payments would cushion suppliers against the high cost of funds, Kepsa said, especially where the capital utilised by the suppliers is money borrowed from commercial banks. "We should have in place regulations that spell out how public sector clients are made to pay for delayed payments to suppliers, specifically how interest could be charged on delays in settlements," Ambassador Awori said to cheers from his fellow business leaders.

Source: Standard Digital May 27, 2016 15:52 UTC