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{
    "id": 1355146,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1355146/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 280,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Teso South, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Mary Emaase",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I have been told to be brief. I think Members are eager to contribute to this Motion. As I second, I would like to join my Chair to appreciate the contribution from Members of all the Departmental Committees to the budget process. This Report is a culmination of a lot of work, effort, commitment and time that Members have put through. I will not forget to mention our Parliamentary Budget Office that has assisted, directed and advised us in un- packing the Supplementary Budget and the whole process up to the Report preparation and recommendations. Hon. Deputy Speaker, having said that, I want to emphasize one aspect. For us to appreciate the budget, we must understand the macro-economic fundamentals underpinning it. As an economist, our very able Chair has articulated that aspect well, but I just want to emphasize because it is important. We must understand why we have done what we have done in the manner in which we have done it. We are preparing Supplementary I at a time when Kenya and many countries across the world are experiencing very difficult economic times. I must say that our economy has been very resilient to the economic shocks. During our discussions, one Member told us that we are blaming everything on the war in Russia to now the war in Israel, but these are facts that we must confront. We were still recovering from the impact of COVID-19, and then the wars started. We now have the vulnerability to debt and because of the economic tightening of many advanced economies; we are seeing an increase in interest rates and fluctuations in the exchange rates. All these things have affected us. Therefore, in view of the foregoing, we had to rearrange the Budget in a manner that addresses or mitigates the impacts of those challenges in the economy. We must do this so as to cushion Kenyans and the nation from severe impacts of the same. We must alleviate the suffering of Kenyans. I want to speak to the aspect of debt. We are aware that Kenya borrowed the Eurobond sometime back in 2014 and to date, it has attracted Ksh70 billion. Our foreign debt is now at Ksh448.7 billion and domestic debt at Ksh415 billion. We are about to borrow more. At this point, when we prepare the budget, we do it in a manner that addresses the consolidation measures so that we are able to reduce the deficit and accumulation of debt. How do we do that? We rearrange our budget."
}