Parliament Passes Supplementary Budget Of Ksh 80 Billion

Kenya National Assembly passed the supplementary budget of 80 billion shillings for the current financial year 2020-21. According to the Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC), 19.1 billion goes to recurrent and 61.6 billion goes to development.

The supplementary budget passed by the National Assembly is 5.6 billion shillings higher than the estimates that had been published by the National Treasury prior to the passing.

The  Treasury has been slashed by 26.8 billion shillings on account of the reversal of the 26.5 billion shillings bailout for Kenya Airways.

Allocation for the State Departments for Infrastructure and Transport has been slashed by 2.8 billion shillings and 2.6 billion shillings, respectively, while the Ministry of Water and Sanitation has been trimmed by 2.7 billion shillings.

The State Department for Planning has been re-allocated an additional 23.9 billion shillings, which we believe is to reinstate the slash in the Constituency Development Fund.

Read More: Kenya’s Public Debt Rose To Ksh 7 Trillion In Two Months

Other beneficiaries in the BAC recommendation report include the Ministry of Health that is set to receive 7.7 billion shillings, the State Department of Devolution to receive 2.5 billion shillings, and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to receive 1.2 billion shillings.

“The result is that the revised spending to the national government in the current fiscal year will jerk up to Ksh 1.972Tn. We expect the Supplementary Appropriations Bill to be tabled shortly now that the National Assembly has approved the FY2020/21 Supplementary Budget I Estimates,” Genghis Cross-Asset Weekly Strategy.

At the same time, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a 263 billion shillings three-year-loan for Kenya to help it for the post-covid economic recovery.

The new program will last for three years to support the government’s COVID-19 response. Kenyans are however skeptical as to whether the loan will be directed to the intended purpose given the corruption history of the current regime.

“The program will support the next phase of the country’s COVID-19 response and the authorities’ plans for a strong multi-year effort to stabilize and begin reducing debt levels relative to GDP,” Mary Goodman who was representing the IMF said.