Treasury has moved the 2022/23 budget-making process ahead by one month to begin in August this year because of the forthcoming polls scheduled for August 9th, 2022.
In a public notice, Ukur Yatani, Treasury Cabinet Secretary, said aware that polls are scheduled for August next year, there is a need to speed up the budget-making process to ensure uninterrupted government operations.
Therefore, he said the budgeting process must begin early to ensure the Finance Bill 2022 is enacted before parliament is dissolved.
Budget process begins in August
In the new arrangement, preparation of the Finance Bill 2022 will begin in August 2021, followed by submitting this document to parliament for debate in January 2022.
The budgeting process begins with National Treasury inviting Government Departments and Agencies, the private sector, non-governmental concerns and organizations and
individuals to submit proposals on economic policy measures.
These proposals are then considered by the Cabinet Secretary National Treasury and Planning while coming up with the next fiscal plan.
Treasury has said proposals submitted must resonate with efforts to support the economy in dealing with the effects of COVID-19 pandemic.
This is in addition to measures that can enable macroeconomic stability based on the Government’s Economic Recovery Strategy. The proposals should also resonate with the “Building Back Better” theme.
To facilitate timely consultations and adequate consideration, the notice said proposals should be forwarded to Treasury before 30th August 2021.
The submissions must suggest changes to the law on the issue to be addressed and why the amendment is necessary.
Ordinarily, the budget-making process begins in September, with the submission of proposals ending in November. The National Treasury has until February 15th to present the draft policy paper to parliament for debate. The Finance Bill is then presented to parliament in June.
Preparation of the Finance Bill, 2022 will now begin in August 2021, with the submission of the proposed law scheduled for January 2022.
Kenya’s 2022/23 fiscal budget is expected to rise by KSh 300 billion to hit KSh 3.9 Trillion, while the public borrowing ceiling will increase from the present value of KSh 9 Trillion to KSh 12 Trillion.
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