Treasury Cabinet Secretary, Ukur Yattani has revealed plans to cut state’s budget, citing an anticipated reduction in revenue.
According to the supplementary budget prepared by Yattani, key Government wings will suffer a budget cut in accordance to the prior allocation as slotted in the 2019/2020 financial year. Among the departments that will be affected is the Ministry of health which will suffer a Sh. 12.2 billion cut.
Trailing closely in the budget cut is the Executive, National Assembly and the Judiciary which will brave a Ksh. 74.4 billion, 2.5 billion and 1.7 billion respectfully. Cumulatively, the treasury projects a reduction of Ksh. 99.2 billion from the 3.08 trillion budgets for this financial year.
Addressing concerns that the Ministry of Health could be incapacitated due to the budget cut, Yattani intimated that MOH had been allocated a special fund to aid in the fight against the novel Corona Virus.
“The decrease in capital expenditure is mainly due to rationalization of the budget. To address the COVID-19 disease, the Ministry has been funded with Ksh.3.9 billion, which comprises of Ksh.1 billion for recruitment of health workers, Ksh.300 million for operations and Ksh. 2.6 billion under development,’’ read a part of Yattani’s supplementary budget document.
The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic saw the exchequer point at difficult times ahead, after revealing that Government coffers lacked a substantial financial muscle.
