Delayed Treasury cash release hurts projects spending

Government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) spent only 14.2 percent of the targeted development allocation in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2019/20 that also witnessed multiple other obstacles in Budget execution.

The total spending on development amounted to Sh99.7 billion while recurrent expenditure was Sh229.5 billion or 28.5 percent in the first three months of the year.

The low absorption of targeted funds resulted from late release of cash from the Treasury and late procurement of goods and services, the Controller of Budget (CoG) report for the period July to September last year showed.

The total expenditure during the quarter was Sh564.2 billion which was 20.6 percent of the annual gross estimates against the 25 percent that would be expected for the period on a pro-rata basis.

“The total expenditure by the national government in the first three months amounted to Sh564.2 billion, representing 20.6 percent of the annual gross estimates. The gross recurrent estimates [were] Sh229.5 billion representing 28.5 per cent of the annual gross estimates and Sh99.7 billion spent on development activities, representing an absorption rate of 14.2 per cent,” said the report.

The report said that during the period there was delay by MDAs to submit quarterly financial reports to the Controller of Budget — which led to the delayed publication of the quarterly report.

There was also slow uploading of procurement plans and budgets into Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and discrepancies between Integrated Payroll and Personnel Database (IPPD) and IFMIS data.