Sh3.3 trillion budget a pipe dream in collapsed economy - Ottichilo

The Sh3.3 trillion budget read by Treasury CS Ukur Yatani last week is unrealistic in the current economy, Vihiga Governor Wilber Ottichilo has said.

Ottichilo said implementation of that budget will face many hiccups due to financial constraints that the nation is going through at the moment.

The county boss said what was tabled in the National Assembly by Yatani was good but its implementation remains a big dream.

“The CS says he will collect from the revenue Sh2.2 trillion and he has a negative of Sh800 billion,” Ottichilo said.

“Where will the government raise that Sh8oo billion money?” the governor posed.

The governor said the CS had not given out a framework on how the government will generate that revenue. 

He said in the 2021-2022 financial year the government had set a target of Sh1.8 trillion but it failed to reach it.

The county boss says the government in the last financial year only collected Sh.1.5 trillion, below its target.

“Now, if in the 2021-2022financial we were not able to reach the target set, my concern is how are we going to raise this Sh3.3 trillion budget,” Ottichilo said.

The governor addressed the press at his home in Emanyinya village in Emuhaya on Saturday. He said the country at the moment will need about Sh1 trillion to service its debt that has gone beyond its GDP.

“Once we start servicing our debts, then it means we won’t have money to implement this 2022-2023 budget,” he said.

Ottichilo urged Treasury to develop a culture of creating a realistic budget that can be achieved and implemented.

He said as of now, the Sh.3.3 trillion budget is likely to remain on paper.

“As we speak now Covid-19 halted so many things, our economy that had grown was watered down, and then drought due to climate change came in,” he said.

The last budget under President Uhuru Kenyatta was read two months earlier than the usual June date to allow enough time for IEBC to prepare ahead of August polls.

The budget is set to cover expenditure for the period between July 1, 2022 and June 31, 2023.

Central government was the major beneficiary with Sh2.07 trillion.  Parliament took  Sh38.4 billion, Judiciary got Sh18.8 billion  and the county governments were allocated Sh370 billion as sharable revenue.

However, Ottichilo says with the current situation counties might not be able to attain much.

Edited by Henry Makori