All eyes will be on Parliament as it commences debate on the 2013/2014 budgetary estimates, a month ahead of the time the estimates will be formally presented to the House. The estimates come up against an environment far different from the past. First, this is the first budget that takes cognisance of two levels of Government.
Secondly, these being the first budget estimates of the Jubilee Government, they serve more or less like a statement of intent on Uhuru’s key policy directions.
Coming against an icy economy; unemployment at an all-time high, and a manufacturing sector that feels excessively taxed, the estimates test the new regime’s resolve to balance revenue generation and expenditure.
At Sh1.01 trillion, the estimates reflect a Government keen on seeing through promises made while on the campaign trail. According to the estimates, Education, TSC, Security, Energy, Agriculture are among the biggest winners.
From the proposed budget, it would seem the Government remains keen to invest in sectors that generate jobs, ease the cost business, guarantee the security of investors, ease movement of people and good from one place to another as well as helping perk up food stocks. Ultimately, this is set to better our competiveness as a regional investment hub.
Betting on such high networth and critical sectors and still manage to maintain the estimates relatively unchanged is undoubtedly bold on the part of the Uhuru Government. It demonstrates a willingness to take the country forward and taming government appetite through prudent financial practice.
Promising? Yes, but there are concerns that efforts at capping a ballooning wage bill will fall through in the face of a determined Parliament out to muzzle the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
Such moves as calls to disband a constitutional commission is ill advised and will hurt attempts at checking the recurrent budget. If carried through, various development projects will stall as more funds is reallocated to finance the appetites and lifestyles of a Parliament that is out of touch with the national mood. In this environment, government is walking a tight-rope of balancing between delivering ambitious poll pledges and prioritising economic demands for national development, as stipulated in the Constitution.
