The government has further cut budgetary support to Kenya Airways (KQ) by another KES 1 billion to KES 19 billion in the current financial year ending June through the revision of the recently released supplementary estimates 1.
In the first 2022/23 Supplementary Budget, the National Treasury revised downwards the capital injected into the national carrier by KES 10 billion to KES 20 billion from the initial KES 30 billion as it sought to gradually eliminate state bailouts to the company.
The fresh KES 1 billion cut to the airline has been proposed by the departmental committee on finance and national planning to the budget and appropriations committee and is aimed at easing pressure on taxpayers ‘money.
“Despite these strategic interventions, Kenya Airways is still struggling to support its business operations with no tangible effort by the airline to supplement the Treasury’s efforts,” said Molo MP Kuria Kimani, who is heading the departmental committee on finance and national planning.
The MP further argued that the consistent bailouts to Kenya Airways are done at the expense of other priority areas like the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NGCDF) that directly impact the citizens.
KQ has been in a financial crisis for a decade, clinging to multi-billion State bailouts to maintain operations. In the last financial year, KQ received a capital injection of KES 25 billion; in this current 2022/23 FY, the airline is receiving KES 13.6 billion out of the allocation of KES 20 billion.
Treasury is targeting to stop the bailouts by December 2023 while introducing new reforms.
Read also; Treasury Set to End KQ Bailouts by December 2023.
