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.”
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