Treasury secretary Henry Rotich said the government would cut other budget items and additional domestic borrowing. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
Treasury secretary Henry Rotich, through the Budget Policy Statement, said the Treasury would cut other budget items and additional domestic borrowing.
Parliamentary Budget Committee in June raised Kenya’s expenditure to Sh1.691 trillion, up from the Sh1.679 trillion set by the Treasury.
Treasury secretary Henry Rotich has explained the Sh13.7 billion budget mystery that arose after Parliament revised the country’s expenditure with no clear sources of revenues to meet the additional expenses.
Mr Rotich, through the Budget Policy Statement, said the Treasury would cut other budget items and additional domestic borrowing.
Parliamentary Budget Committee in June raised Kenya’s expenditure to Sh1.691 trillion, up from the Sh1.679 trillion set by the Treasury.
The lack of clarity on funding of the additional Sh13 billion had put a number of projects at risk including the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) which got additional allocation, construction of Ronald Ngala Utalii University, the much hyped Konza Technopolis and the paving of the neglected Narok-Maasai Mara Road.
“At the beginning of the FY 2014/15, the National Assembly approved ‘unfunded’ additional expenditures amounting to Sh13.7 billion. Further, additional expenditure amounting to Sh48.0 billion has been recommended for funding,” the Budget Policy Statement says.
“It is proposed that these expenditures be funded through expenditure rationalization (Sh14.4 billion) and additional domestic borrowing (Sh41.4 billion).
The law allows the Budget Committee to reallocate resources within the budget estimate presented to Parliament by the Treasury, which took its expenditure plans to the House on April 30.
The Budget Committee tabled the revised estimates on June 11.
The committee proposed that the CDF allocation be increased by Sh5 billion, raising the total CDF vote to Sh32.97 billion, up from Sh21.9 billion in the current financial year.
The MPs had raised concerns over the fund, saying the allocation is not enough to cater for the growing development needs in constituencies. The additional cash is set to strengthen the hand of MPs at the constituencies.
Plans to upgrade to bitumen standards the Narok-Maasai Mara Road got a boost with the allocation of Sh1 billion.
Despite the Mara reserve raking in about Sh3 billion per year, the 85km road to the park has been neglected for long which has affected its competitiveness since a number of visitors are forced to fly to the area, an expensive option.
The Sh1.2 billion construction of the Ronald Ngala Utalii University in Kilifi, will also benefit. The Budget Committee increased the allocation for Konza Technopolis to Sh900 million after the Treasury initially allocated it Sh500 million.
The additional cash is set for laying roads and electricity network, weeks after completions of mapping of land parcels earmarked for auctioning to investors.
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