Under its new administration, Kenya has reduced government spending
According to the most recent statistics, the cost of running the national government in Kenya declined slightly in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
President William Ruto hosted the 22nd Extra-Ordinary Summit of the East African Community Heads of State
In the three months through September, the Ruto government spent Sh268.10 billion on administration, operations, and maintenance, as well as salaries and compensation, a 2.90 percent decrease from Sh276.11 billion in the same time the previous year.
The Sh8.01 billion year-on-year decrease in day-to-day operating costs for the administration, Parliament, the Judiciary, and independent bodies is mostly due to lower election spending following the completion of the contentious polls in the first quarter of last fiscal year.
According to statistics released by Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u, recurrent expenditure for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has dropped from Sh10.33 billion to Sh544.52 million, indicating the expense of the traditionally high-stakes elections on taxpayers.
Excluding the IEBC’s recurring costs, the national government’s operating expenses were almost steady compared to the previous year, rising by 0.66 percent, or Sh1.77 billion, to Sh267.55 billion.
The rising costs of debt payment have now surpassed those for operating, maintaining, and compensating employees, underscoring the impact of the commercial loans taken out over the past ten years to build desperately needed roads, bridges, power plants, and a new railway line.
For instance, during the three-month review period, debt charges devoured Sh347.22 billion, surpassing the daily cost of administering the government, which includes salaries and wages, by 29.51 percent, or Sh79.13 billion.
Since taking office a year ago, the Ruto government has struggled to reduce recurrent costs, while promising to lower the previous administration’s spending by up to Sh300 billion during the previous fiscal year.
This became clear when the recurrent expenses for the fiscal year that ended in June came in at Sh43.17 billion more than the Sh1.18 trillion that Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration had planned.
Head of the Public Service Felix Koskei announced that the State will no longer reimburse expenses incurred on trips taken by government officials for benchmarking and study visits, training and related capacity-building initiatives, research, academic meetings, and symposia. This is part of a renewed effort to control growth in recurrent expenditures.
Conferences and meetings with open enrollment, side events, and exhibitions, as well as committee and association meetings and activities, are additional costs that will be reduced as part of the new austerity effort.
“Public institutions wishing to travel and participate in any of the pipeline events in the above categories are required to request for virtual participation where available and, alternatively, engage the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs to ensure on-the-spot participation of diplomatic officials in the country of reference,” Mr. Koskei wrote in the memo.
Africa.businessinsider.com
