Treasury should prioritise public spending to grow our economy

The Treasury plans spend Sh2 trillion in the upcoming budget for 2015/16 according to published budget documents. It projects a revenue collection of Sh1.5 trillion to finance it, even as KRA falls far below its projections in the current financial year’s targets. Although our GDP has grown to a handsome Sh6 trillion, our investments to grow it much larger depend on how smartly we spend our funds. Attempts to prioritise investments through Vision 2030 projects that target key growth areas quite often lack fidelity to its cause.

In 2003, the Narc government developed a marshal plan to develop the arid and semi-arid north of this country based on its sanctioned assessment that a shilling invested in the region will give a return of five shillings into the economy. But political expediency and patronage that characterise our public spending undermined their dreams to exploit the vast natural resources in the area and better the lives of its pastoralist residents.