Salaries, development cash on the line in Ksh.300 billion budget cut

Salaries and spending on development projects are likely to take a hit as the National Treasury moves to effect a Ksh.300 billion cut to the 2022/23 budget.

In a memo issued to accounting officers in Ministries and State Departments which is dated October 5, the National Treasury has asked the officers to present actual salaries between July and September and estimates of wages to the end of June next year.

At the same time, the officers have been asked to present contractual evidence and actual expenditures on utilities, rent, contracted guards and cleaning services.

Further, the accounting officers are expected to furnish the Planning Ministry with an updated status of capital projects, projects with implementation challenges and details of all new projects in the 2022/23 budget.

All accounting officers at Ministries and State Departments are expected to meet the National Treasury in meetings scheduled from Tuesday this week to October 21.

The meetings are expected to guide the realignment of Ministries spending plans in line with a directive by President William Ruto which ordered for a Ksh.300 billion slash to the budget.

While issuing the order on September 29, President Ruto says the move is intended at trimming the 2022/23 budget deficit which is estimated at nearly Ksh.900 billion.

The trimming of the deficit is intended at reducing the government’s borrowing targets for the fiscal year.

“We should never borrow to finance recurrent expenditure. It is not right, prudent or sustainable. It is simply wrong. We must bring ourselves and our country to sanity,” President Ruto said.

“To this end, I have instructed Treasury to work with Ministries to find at least Ksh.300 billion in this year’s budget so that we can remove it because the market cannot sustain the kind of borrowing we are doing as government.”