Data on the cash disbursement shows Treasury was yet to release Sh350 billion to national government ministries, departments and agencies as of Monday.
Counties, on the other hand, have not received Sh30 billion with only a day to the end of the fiscal year.
So far, Treasury has released Sh2.95 trillion of the Sh3.35 trillion budget for the ending fiscal year.
The cash includes Sh1.97 trillion collected by the Kenya Revenue Authority (ordinary revenue) and 1.04 trillion from loans and other sources.
The report on the receipts and exchequer position as of Monday obtained by the Star shows the taxman surpassed its annual collection target of Sh1.80 trillion to post an impressive Sh1.97 trillion.
This represents 109.0 per cent of its target for the year.
The report shows the recurrent expenditure gobbled up the biggest chunk of government revenues with some Sh1.21 billion being expended on the vote.
This is against the budget of Sh1.23 trillion.
The recurrent expenditure represents 38.0 per cent of the total expenditure.
Recurrent expenses include payments of salaries and wages to the state and public officials and maintenance of government vehicles and facilities among other expenses.
Development, on the other hand, has received Sh307.01 billion out of Sh424.18 billion budgeted.
This represents 10.4 per cent of the total expenditure.
And in what explains the deep debt crisis in the country, the expenditure on development is three times the one on repayment of debt.
Since the beginning of the fiscal year, debt repayment has gobbled Sh1.04 trillion or 35.3 per cent of the government expenditure.
Some Sh1.16 trillion has been set aside for debt repayment in the current financial year.
This could partly explain the low expenditure on development.
The latest report by Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o shows the Treasury borrowed an average of Sh3 billion per day in the last year, pushing the country’s total debt to Sh8.40 trillion.
The Budget Implementation Review report for the first nine months of the financial year revealed on Tuesday that the debt ballooned by 14.6 per cent in the last year.
The debt grew from Sh7.34 trillion in March 2021 to Sh8.40 trillion in March this year.
“As of March 31, 2022, the public debt stock stood at Sh8.40 trillion, comprising 50.1 per cent due to external lenders and 49.9 per cent due to domestic lenders,” the report read.
Last Tuesday, the Senate stamped the National Assembly’s approval of the National Treasury’s bid to increase the debt ceiling to Sh10 trillion to allow for more borrowing.
“The Controller of Budget recommends that the national government considers debt restructuring, hedging strategies and the mopping up of idle cash held by public institutions,” the report reads.
The cash disbursement report reveals that the 47 county governments have so far received Sh340.39 billion out of Sh370 billion.
The funds are mainly for the month of June.
In the past, governors have lamented Treasury’s failure to release the cash in time – before the closure of the fiscal year to avoid the accumulation of pending bills.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
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