National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani read the 2022/2023 budget on Thursday.
The budget is estimated to cost Sh3.31 trillion down by Sh350 billion compared to the 2021/22 financial year whose estimates cost Sh3.66 trillion.
In the 2022/23 budget estimates, Yatani gave health its biggest allocation ever.
The CS allocated Sh146.8bn to the healthcare sector out of which Sh62.3billion will cover the Universal Health Coverage(UHC).
In the 2021-22 budget, the health sector received Sh121.1 billion.
“Of this amount, Sh47.7 billion will fund activities and programmes for the attainment of Universal Health Coverage,” Yatani said in the budget statement.
Covid-19 vaccines received Sh7bn while free maternity received Sh4.1bn.
Maintenance of equipment was allocated Sh5.2bn while medical cover for elderly and disabled persons received Sh1.8bn.
The rest Sh16.2bn was allocated for Malaria, AIDS and TB.
In last year's budget, the CS was expected to balance between post-Covid economic recovery and driving President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four Agenda, whose implementation was equally slowed down by the pandemic.
The presentation of the budget statement is expected to be the last for Yatani under the current administration.
The budget was read two months earlier due to the General Elections slated for August 9.
The budget estimates cover expenditure for the period between July 1, 2022, to June 31, 2023.
