Development funds have taken the biggest hit in cuts in the second supplementary budgets, which aim to reduce the budget by KSh18.8 billion.
The Parliamentary Budget Committee (PBC) decreased KSh2.02 billion from the State Department of infrastructure. The department will now receive KSh5.2 billion from the KSh73.1 billion supplementary budget. On the other hand, PBC only cut recurrent expenditure by KSh14 million, even when the country faces a ballooning wage bill.
Additionally, parliament also cut funds meant for power distribution and transmission by KSh2.1 billion.
Other losers in the cuts include the water and sanitation ministry and Health.
Parliament sliced KSh942 million from the Ministry of water, KSh300 million from Health, and KSh65 million from Education. Besides, the budget committee slashed development funds for the Ministry of ICT by KSh200 miilion.
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The cuts in development expenditure face significant opposition by economic experts. Kenya’s allocation for capital expenditure stands at 24.8%, 5.2% less than IMF recommendations. The IMF recommends that Kenya cuts its wage bill, which forms the major part of recurrent expenditure.
“IMF wants Kenya to sustainably cut its high wage bill that forms the bulk of its recurrent expenditure, putting pressure on development budget,” a Treasury official told The Star.
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