Kenya will join Uganda, Rwanda, and Tanzania in presenting 2025/26 Budget Estimates this afternoon where Treasury CS John Mbadi is expected to provide clarity on how the Treasury intends to fund the spending plan in the Ksh4.239 trillion budget.
- •The budget, third under the Kenya Kwanza Administration places special emphasis on fiscal consolidation to reduce public debt vulnerabilities while providing fiscal space to deliver essential public goods and services.
- •To boost revenues, emphasis will be placed on a combination of tax administrative and tax policy reforms that include: strengthening tax administration for enhanced compliance through expansion of the tax base, sealing revenue loopholes and enhancing the efficiency of tax system.
- •To strengthen expenditure control and improve efficiency and effectiveness in public spending, the Government plans to rationalize and reduce non-essential expenditure by rolling out an end-to-end e-procurement system to maximise value for money and increase transparency in procurement.
“This budget must not only support growth but also safeguard the country from debt vulnerabilities,” Hon. Samuel Atandi, Chair, Budget and Appropriations Committee said in the lead up to Budget Day.
Treasury CS John Mbadi recently said that in view of the constrained fiscal environment, prioritization during resource allocation will be critical in ensuring low-priority expenditures are dropped or deferred to give way to high-priority service-delivery programmes.
In February, the CS ordered Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to re-evaluate all the existing or planned activities, projects, and programmes to be funded in the FY 2025/26 and medium-term budget.
The proposed gross expenditure in Kenya’s 2025/26 budget amounts to Ksh. 4.239 trillion, divided as Recurrent expenditure: Ksh. 1.79 trillion, Development expenditure: Ksh. 707.8 billion and Consolidated Fund Services (CFS): Ksh. 1.337 trillion. Counties are set to receive an equitable share of Ksh. 405.1 billion.
The Education sector takes the lion’s share of the budget, receiving Ksh. 701.1 billion (28.1% of the national government budget), covering capitation grants, teacher salaries, and infrastructure for basic and higher education.
The Energy, Infrastructure and ICT sector was allocated KSh. 500.7 billion, which includes Ksh. 195 billion for roads, Ksh. 119 billion for housing and urban development and Ksh. 92 billion for the energy and petroleum sector.