Nairobi, June 11 -- Salaried workers are major casualties and will now wait longer for relief on their pay taxes as the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary kept mum on the much-publicised promise, even as the State juggles financing its growth plans and appeasing businesses and a restless public squeezed by the high cost of living.

While the State tried to appease businesses, with a roadmap to settle Sh155.3 billion in pending bills over the next two years, the realities of tight fiscal positions forced it to stay silent on promises of billions of shillings in salary tax relief for millions of workers.

The promised reliefs on pay-as-you-earn (PAYE), which included raising the tax-free threshold from gross earnings of Sh20,000 to Sh30,00...