Nairobi — Kenyans have until July 22 to submit their views on the new budget, following the rejection of the Financial Bill.
The National Assembly Committee on Budget and Appropriations will begin gathering public opinions on the Supplementary Estimates (No.1) for the Financial Year 2024/2025 (Recurrent & Development) and the revised Programme-Based Budget.
The Financial Bill was sent back to Parliament for withdrawal by President William Ruto after protests left over 40 people dead and 300 more injured.
Speaker Moses Wetangula has directed the Ndindi Nyoro-led Committee to process and submit its report to the House by July 24, enabling MPs to consider the Supplementary Estimates and the Supplementary Appropriation legislation.
"Any written memoranda on the Supplementary Estimates should clearly indicate the name of the person or organization submitting it and their contact details and should be hand-delivered to the Office of the Clerk, First Floor, Main Parliament Buildings, Nairobi, or emailed to be received on or before Monday, July 22, 2024, at 5:00 PM," read a notice in Sunday's newspapers.
The Supplementary Estimates aim to rationalize the 2024/25 Budget Estimates to align with the Revised Fiscal Framework and actualize expenditure cuts across the three arms of Government, Constitutional Commissions, and Independent Offices.
"The estimates propose to reduce the budget for the three arms of government by Sh156.39 billion, of which Sh34.04 billion constitutes approved recurrent expenditure and Sh122.35 billion constitutes approved development expenditure. This is a 6.6 percent decrease in the expenditures approved in the Estimates for FY 2024/2025," the notice states.
The 2024/25 FY Budget was to be funded through additional revenue measures amounting to Sh344 billion contained in the 2024 Finance Bill, which was not assented to, creating a financing gap of a similar amount.
The proposed austerity measures come against a backdrop of a projected reduction in estimated revenue from 18.5 percent of GDP to 17.5 percent of GDP and a projected reduction in expenditure from 22.1 percent of GDP.
It also seeks to address a projected increase in the overall fiscal deficit, inclusive of grants, from 3.3 percent of GDP to 3.6 percent of GDP.
