Controller of budget concerned with public debt accumulation

Mombasa,

Thursday, September 21, 2023

KNA by Chari Suche

The Controller of Budget (COB) Margaret Nyakang'o has requested legislators to promote budgetary discipline and proper use of public resources, by putting better legislation.

Nyakang’o warned of the adverse effects of high public debt urging the parliamentary Budget and Appropriation Committee to chip in and deter public debt accumulation in the country.

Speaking while delivering key highlights of budget implementation for the year 2022/23 and the first quarter of 2023/24, she said that the development matrix of the country is on the decline owing to a lack of money to fund development.

She said if the situation is left untamed the development matrix is on the decline as public coffers are only left to cater for recurrent expenditure.

She noted that the public debt burden is continuously increasing thus threatening the proposed development plan by the government.

In the highlights of the 2022/23 budget, Nyakang’o said Kenya's debt ceiling has breached the standards since as at June 30, 2023, the country's public debt stood at Sh.10.25 trillion, comprising Sh. 5.4 trillion due to external lenders and Sh. 4.8 trillion due to domestic lenders. 

“The public debt was at Sh.10.3 trillion by June 30, 2023, comprising Sh.5.1 trillion due to external lenders (52.9) percent and Sh.4.8 trillion due to domestic lenders equivalent to 47.1 percent,” she said.

She added that it is paramount that the committee act on the legislative gaps to improve on budget implementation in the country, one of them being amendments to the Controller of Budget COB Act 2016.

The Budget and Appropriation Committee Chairman Ndindi Nyoro expressed the committee's commitment to helping the COB with the requisite laws that will facilitate prudent expenditure of public resources.

Nyoro said that although the public debt seems to increase, members should look at the debt in terms of changes in exchange rates.

He said the foreign debt may increase if the dollar increases without even the country having done additional borrowing.

He urged the committee and the controller of budget to devise alternative plans where they can zoom in further and investigate budget implementation in agencies and state-owned enterprises and not just the ministries. 

He also noted that there is a need to be prudent and realistic as possible when budgeting.

“The benchmark for succeeding budgets should not be the previous budget but the previous exchequer release as it is closer to reality,” he added.

The Kiharu MP said that the country is not in a bad situation as inflation was down last month to 6.7 percent adding that they are doing their best as legislators to stabilize the situation.

“The fuel rise is affecting many Kenyans including us leaders but I would like to say that the most important aspect in fuel is availability as some countries do not have it. I want to request Kenyans that we are doing our level best just as we have done in inflation,” he said.

Courtesy; KNA