Treasury CS Ukur Yatani unveils Budget 2020/21

Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani on Thursday presented Kenya’s 2020/21 budget.

CS Yatani’s first Budget has come under the spotlight on how he will balance the bigger budget against shrinking revenues as businesses shut down, workers lose jobs or face pay cuts and exports decline on supply chain interruptions.

Here's a chronology of the events: 

14.25: Treasury CS Ukur Yatani emerges from Treasury building for a photo session carrying the budget briefcase.

14:33 The CS makes his way to Parliament buildings riding in Passat car.

14.41 He arrives at Parliament Buildings and proceeded for another photo session after hands were sanitized and temperature checked. 

Orderlies sanitise furniture minutes before Finance CS starts reading the budget.

Highlights

CS Yatani takes to the floor of the House, says:

• Since March 2020, banks have restructured loans in excess of Sh360 billion; including Sh190 billion of personal loans.
• Sub-Saharan Africa economies to contract by 1.6 per cent in 2020 and rebound in 2021 by 4.1 per cent. 
• To support the recovery of SMEs the State shall gazette the list of goods for local procurement to support the Buy Kenya Build Kenya Initiative.
• CS Yatani sets aside Sh5 billion for rehabilitation of access roads and bridges across the country.
• Sh10 billion set aside for the Kazi kwa Vijana programme.
• Sh300 million set aside to recruit 1,000 ICT interns to support digital learning in schools.
• Health Care: Sh111.7 billion allocated to the health sector.  Out of this Sh50.3 billion is towards activities and programs to achieve universal health care in all counties. Sh1.2 billion set aside for the recruitment of health workers for a period of one year. Sh500 million to go to the supply of beds and beddings to hospitals.

• Sh500 million has been allocated for the supply 20,000 locally made beds and beddings to public hospitals.

• Sh25 million to support the establishment of 50 modern walk-through sanitizers in border points and main hospitals across the country.

• Agriculture: Sh3 billion set aside to subsidise farm inputs and Sh1.5 billion for flower and horticulture farmers to access international markets.
• Arrears: Sh1.3 billion set aside for clearing pending bills in Yatani's Sh2.7 trillion budget that pegs economic growth at 2.5 per cent.

• CS Yatani orders Principal Secretaries and accounting officers to clear all pending bills. State Corporations accumulating bills will be experience delays in getting future disbursements from Treasury.

• To support enterprises owned by women and people living with disability the Government has directed prompt payment for their contracts.

• CS Yatani says Treasury is working to clear all pension payments accrued over the years.

• To cushion businesses and premises affected by COVID-19, CS Yatani says he has constituted a team in Treasury to review the situation being faced by state-owned enterprises and revert within 90 days.

• Tourism: To support the sector, the government has temporarily lifted the ban on holding meetings in private hotels.

• Deficit: CS Yatani says Fiscal deficit to decline in 2020/21 Financial Year to Sh840.6 billion from Sh842.7 billion in the previous Financial Year.

• Debt: Treasury says the public debt is sustainable and government will opt for concessional borrowing.

• Public projects to be funded through Public-Private Partnerships.

• Stalled projects: Funds held up in slow-moving projects to be re-allocated to dynamic ones to avoid servicing loans on white elephants.

• Local Industries: Sh18.2bn allocated to the support of local industries, Sh3bn for Ndongo Kundu Economic Zone

• Sh52.8bn for nutritional and food security. 

• SGR: Sh18.1 billion for SGR Phase Two development and Sh5 billion for Mombasa Port development.

• Education: Sh59.4 billion for free day secondary education and another Sh1.8 billion for school feeding programme. Sh94.9b to support university education.

• CDF: Constituency Development Funds gets Sh41.7 billion.

• NYS: National Youth Service gets Sh10.2 billion.

• Sh82.7 billion to support environment and water conservation; Sh10.9 billion set aside for conservation of forests and water towers.

• Sh1.6 billion to support processing and registration of title deeds.

• Counties to receive Sh361.9 billion in 2020/21 budget. CS Yatani urges County Government to clear pending bills by June 30, 2020.

• Sh37.3 billion allocated to Parliament, to support oversight.

• Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) allocated Sh3.1 billion as does the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), while the Nairobi Metropolitan Service gets Sh26.4 billion and Unclaimed Assets Finance Authority gets Sh149 million.

• Raw materials needed for local manufacture of baby diapers to be imported duty-free as will material for assembly and manufacture of cell phones.

• Agriculture: Maize or corn seeds to be exempted from value added tax (VAT) to make them available to farmers.

• Konza technocity: Sh400 million for the ongoing construction of Konza phase 1b and Sh5.1 billion for Konza data center.

• Sh14 billion to sports and social development funds.

• Government introduces digital tax of 1.5 per cent on value of transaction.

• Ambulance services exempted from Value Added Tax.

• Sh1 billion to support flood control in the local areas; Treasury to finalise a policy on disaster management regulation fund.

At 16:35, The House adjourns and members leave for a cocktail party.