Cabinet approves 25pc rise in spending for year 2015/16

The Government plans to raise spending by 25 per cent to Sh2.17 trillion in the financial year starting July, with the bulk of the increase going to energy, infrastructure and telecommunications, according to a proposal approved by the Cabinet.

Under the new budget, there is an overall increase of 24.9 per cent in funding to all sectors compared to the budget for financial year 2014/15, with Energy, Infrastructure and ICT sectors overtaking Education sector and accounting for 27.3 per cent of total sectoral funding in 2015/16 compared with 21.7 per cent in 2014.

The share of education sector in the current fiscal year’s budget that was estimated at Sh1.54 trillion stood at 20 per cent. The President’s office said in a statement the budget for fiscal year 2015/16 would also increase spending on security, a sensitive issue particularly after Islamist gunmen from Somalia’s Al-Shabaab killed 148 people in an attack on Garissa University College early this month.

“The interventions specifically target modernisation of the military and the police to give them adequate capabilities to deal with and vanquish the security threats arising from terrorism,” the statement said.

The State said tax reforms were expected to raise total revenues to 20.7 per cent of gross domestic product from the National Treasury’s target of 20.4 per cent for 2014/15. The budget proposal must now be approved by Parliament. The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary will present the 2015/16 budget to Parliament in June.

The Cabinet under the Chairmanship of President Uhuru Kenyatta noted the fiscal 2015/16 budget continues to focus on Vision 2030 and the Jubilee Government’s priorities under a five-pillar transformation agenda.

The agenda targets; creation of a conducive business environment, investing in agricultural transformation and food security, investing in first-class transport and logistics, investing in quality and accessible healthcare and education services as well as strengthening the social safety net to reduce the burden on households.

Service delivery

It also seeks to support devolution for better service delivery and enhanced economic development and revival of the tourism industry.

According to the statement, the budget has further made provision for funding to critical programmes aimed at strategic interventions in various areas such as leasing of medical equipment, road annuity programme, National Youth Service (NYS) re-engineering and youth empowerment.

Other areas the State would seek to intervene through the budget are construction of Sports Stadia, land titling, energy and slum upgrading/health programme.

The Cabinet statement explained the economy is expected to grow at 6.9 per cent initially, picking up to 7 per cent over the medium-term while inflation would be maintained within Government target of 5 per cent over the medium term.