The National Treasury plans for the financial year 2024/2025 reveal a significant reshuffle in budget allocations, with notable increases slated for the Office of the President and Deputy President, while critical state departments face substantial cuts.
Released on Thursday, May 2, the Programme Based Budget 2024/25 proposes an additional Ksh1.35 billion for the Office of the President, and Ksh590 million for the Office of the Deputy President compared to the previous financial year.
If approved, President William Ruto's office will see its funding rise to Ksh5.37 billion, and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's to Ksh4.88 billion, up from Ksh4.03 billion and Ksh4.29 billion, respectively, in the preceding financial year.
These increases coincide with the Treasury's efforts to reduce budgetary allocations to crucial sectors like education, health, roads, and agriculture.
The State House budget is set to decrease to Ksh9.49 billion from Ksh9.84 billion, while Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi's budget faces a revision down to Ksh1.14 billion from Ksh1.19 billion in 2023/2024.
The Treasury has announced a reduction of Ksh267.5 billion in the 2024/25 budget, with state departments bearing the large brunt of the cuts.
Total expenditure and net lending for the upcoming financial year are now estimated at Ksh3.92 trillion, down from a previous projection of Ksh4.188 trillion, with cuts across various sectors.
Day-to-day spending, encompassing recurrent expenditures like wages, salaries, interest payments, and pensions, is expected to decrease by Ksh77.6 billion to Ksh2.781 trillion from the earlier estimate of Ksh2.859 trillion.
Development spending is also set to take a significant hit, with estimates reduced to Ksh687.9 billion from Ksh877.8 billion. The Treasury attributes these spending cuts mainly to the drag caused by underperforming domestic revenues.
The Treasury highlighted, "Following the underperformance of revenues in the financial year 2023/24, the projected revenues in the approved 2024 budget policy statement (BPS) have been revised accordingly to reflect this reality on the baseline. Further, to remain on the fiscal consolidation path, there is a need to contain borrowing and rationalise expenditures to sustainable levels."
