“Kenya is broke!” National Treasury Cabinet Secretary says
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National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u concedes that Kenya is in a strained status financially
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u concedes that Kenya is in a strained status financially.
National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u is conceding that the country’s economy is in a strained status, citing a lack of resources to finance key public expenditures.
While equating the national budget to a household budget, National Treasury CS Prof. Ndung’u says the available resources were less than the listed expenses, asking Kenyans to be patient.
His admission regarding the state of the economy dashes the hopes of millions of Kenyans who are currently struggling for a lower cost of living.
“Ukiwa unaishi kwa hii nchi unajua ile matatizo ya hela iko hii nchi, it is something we have to resolve, we have a resource constraint…hatuna hela, lazima tujisaidie. Lakini tukipata hela, yote yatawezekana…tumetoka mbali, huo upungufu utakwisha, hatuwezi sema utaisha leo au kesho, lakini tutakuja kutatua hiyo shida…,” said the Treasury CS on Wednesday.
He was speaking during an induction forum for the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Budget.
The CS’s national economic status update is a bitter pill to swallow for millions of Kenyans burdened by the biting cost of living.
“Tuna upungufu, lazima tutulize, tungojee mpaka wakati utafika tuseme tumepata suluhu…bado tuko kwa shimo, lazima tujue hivyo. Kama unaishi hii nchi lazima ujue hivyo…,” added Prof. Ndung’u
In his statement on the Financial Year 2022/2023 first supplementary estimates transmitted to the National Assembly, the cabinet secretary falls short in actualizing government austerity measures.
Only Ksh. 106 billion is suggested to be deducted from development spending, with the remaining Ksh. 92.2 billion being reallocated to recurrent expenses. The government now has savings of just Ksh. 13.3 billion.
The taxman fell short of the revenue collection goal for the first half of the fiscal year, which ran from July to December of last year, by Ksh. 51.8 billion.
The under-expenditure of Ksh.108.6 billion is attributed to lower absorption recorded in recurrent and development expenditures of Ksh.52.1 billion and delayed disbursement to county governments worth ksh.56.6 billion.
“Hata wewe kwako nyumbani unaweza kuwa broke, lakini si uko na nyumba unakaa? Ni mahitaji yale uko nayo na zile pesa uko nazo unaona hazilingani…? Serikali ni kama kwako nyumbani, uko na mahitaji lakini pesa ya kutosheleza mahitaji yote hakuna. Lakini ukingoja kidogo, ufanye kazi kwa bidi, unapata hela za kutosheleza hayo mahitaji…,” said the CS.
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