President William Ruto has dismissed assertions by a section of the media that the government has reintroduced fuel subsidies.
It followed the announcement on Monday by the Energy Regulatory Authority (Epra) that fuel prices would remain unchanged in the August-September cycle despite a hike in prices of imported fuel products.
"Let me tell the country that we will not go back to subsidies of any nature that distorts things and causes us unnecessary leakage," Ruto said.
During this month's fuel prices review, Epra said the government had resorted to retaining fuel prices in order to cushion Kenyans from the hike in fuel prices.
Epra Director General Daniel Kiptoo said oil marketers would in turn be compensated the difference from the Petroleum Development Levy at the rate of Sh7.33 per litre of super petrol, Sh3.59 per litre of diesel and Sh5.74 per litre of kerosene.
Ruto said the payout is not a subsidy but is provided for in the law for the development of the petroleum industry and to stablise prices whenever there are unintended hikes.
"We are making prudent Petroleum Development Levy that is provided for in the law," he said.
The President urged the media to instead commend the government for working to stabilise fuel prices.
"And that is why we suffer as a country. All the positive things that are made by our friends are destroyed by the very negative things that we say about our country."
In a statement on Tuesday, Kiptoo said the Petroleum Development Levy is a fund for a rainy day for Kenya as fuel prices are concerned.
He clarified that funds from the PDL are not subsidies for the simple reason that the government has not utilised public funds "but simply given back to Kenyans their money which we have collected from them in the past."
"It is within the funds that have been collected and does not need any exchequer support as was the norm in the previous administration which employed exchequer funds which made it a subsidy," he said.
