Julius Bosire
2 November 2009
Nairobi — East African countries are set for a major review of their financial year calendars following pressure from major donors.
The shift, to be implemented in the next two years, will see Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi change the start of their budget calendars from the current mid-year to January.
The move, fiscal analysts say, is aimed at aligning the region's budget calendars with those of donor countries.
The EastAfrican has established that Kenya is planning a study on the proposed shift, the findings of which will then be tabled in parliament for debate.
According to Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, the proposed shift will have to be spearheaded by the region as a bloc.
"With the current level of integration in East Africa, no single member will undertake a major fiscal policy change without consulting the rest," Mr Kenyatta said, adding: "If the move is for the betterment of our region's economies, then we have no option but to pursue it as a bloc."
A budget consultant at the International Monetary Fund told The EastAfrican that the move is likely to increase donor and grants allocation to the East African region.
"Uganda and Tanzania will certainly be the major beneficiaries of this development since their budgets are still highly dependent on donor funding," the source said, adding: "Over the past years, the region missed on major international funding sources because of the conflict in their budget calendars," he said.
Majority of donors have their budget calendars ending in December 31.
Currently, Uganda's budget depends on $228 million in donor support with an investment project assistance of over $176 million.
The World Bank, through the International Development Association, remains the key donor to the country followed by the European Union, United Kingdom and the African Development Bank.
In this year's budget, Tanzania had projected to cut its dependence on donor funding but domestic receipts could not bridge the budget gap due to the global economic crisis, which hurt prices of major commodities such as coffee, cotton and horticulture.
Budget experts say the review is part of the wider public financial management reforms programme for Kenya, which has been pursued for the past few years in a bid to strengthen the credibility of the budget.
Finance Permanent Secretary Joseph Kinyua says reforming the budget process in Kenya is necessary to guarantee the fundamental, long term objective of efficiency and effectiveness in public spending.
"In this regard, the government will continue to entrench performance-based budgeting (PBB) in our budget process. Our desired goal is to have a PBB system which is fully operational by the financial year 2010/2011," he said.
Meanwhile, the Germany-based International Institute for Journalism has launched a budget reporting course for business journalists across East Africa in a bid to encourage accountability.
According to the organisation's senior project coordinator Hans-Jurgen Bosel, the media can play a crucial role in enhancing transparency and communication by providing public access to governÂment budget information.
"This should in turn facilitate a better-informed public debate about the focus of the budget and make governments more accountable for the implementation of the budget. In this context, our course is designed to enhance the capacity of print and online journalists to report comprehensively on the budget and its implementation," he explained.
"Having a clear budget calendar does not mean that the financial year of the government changes but rather the sequence of events including dates which are agreed from the time the financial year ends in one year to the end of the subsequent financial year. For instance the budget calendar would inform when the sector hearings take place, when the budget statement will be read in Parliament, among others," Mr Ochieng said.
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