The offices of President William Ruto, his deputy Rigathi Gachagua, and Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi are to receive a further KSh 3.4 billion in new budget revisions.
In its second 2023/2024 supplementary budget that covers expenditure in the financial year to June 30, 2023, the National Treasury has proposed additional spending to the three offices in what has been a clog in development spending with the capital allocations set to fall by KSh 39 billion.
The Executive Office of the President will see the office share of budget increases at KSh 3.1 billion while sharing of the Prime Cabinet Secretary and the deputy president will rise by KSh 81.3 million and 166 million respectively.
The largest portion of newly budgeted funds will go to State House Affairs, which will receive KSh 2.1 billion as part of the total budget adjustment.
Njuguna Ndung’u, the Treasury Cabinet Secretary, presented Ruto’s first budget to parliament on Thursday, June 15.
“We received from many Kenyans proposals and suggestions that have informed the priorities outlined in this budget statement,” said Ndung’u while presenting on Thursday, June 15.
In the finance bill there were winners and losers.
By taking money from salaried taxpayers’ pockets to pay for the KSh 3.68 trillion budget, Ndung’u increased the suffering for them while making empty promises to restore Kenya’s economic fortunes through onerous tax policies.
The government’s proposed 35% income tax, 1.5% housing levy, and 2.7% National Health Insurance Fund will cost top earners close to 40% of their wages.
Since they must pay a 3% turnover tax whether they make a profit or not, small firms will also feel the pinch.
In the 2023/2024 spending plan, the Kenya Kwanza Alliance government, which is led by President William Ruto, will have a budget deficit of KSh 720.1 billion.
As the budget grows by more over KSh 300 billion, Ruto will borrow at least KSh 1.9 billion per day to close the deficit.
In his speech Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u announced that a third of the budget, or KSh 1.6 trillion, will be used to pay debt.
Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u said while presenting the budget estimates for the 2023/24 financial year, universal healthcare is on top of the government’s key agenda.
In other news Health CS Susan Nakhumicha had reassured Kenyans no recent cases of COVID-19 had been reported. She claimed that people in Nairobi were mistaken for the rise of common flu since it had symptoms similar to COVID-19.