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{
    "id": 1382300,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1382300/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 186,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kikuyu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Kimani Ichung'wah",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "The fiscal consolidation programme will encompass two aspects: Revenue generation and expenditure. The Departmental Committee on Finance and National Planning will bring the Finance Bill, 2025 later in the year that will deal with revenue generation matters. What is more important is expenditure and how we, as a country, can rationalise it. This is where we have a huge challenge. As Hon. Makali Mulu has said, the changes in the medium-term debt management strategy usually emanate from reviews of our expenditure. Every supplementary budget comes with additional expenditure, at the time when there is decline in revenue collection. I hope that the National Treasury will adhere to what the Committee and House recommends this time, should we adopt this Report and its recommendations. If the National Treasury discovers that our revenues are either not performing or improving within the year, then it is imperative that it also reviews the expenditure side of our Budget. This is because it is a challenge that we have. The Chairman of Budget and Appropriations Committee, Hon. Ndindi Nyoro, has been very keen on this. However, I ask him that we actualise the House resolutions this year. This is not only about the National Treasury but also the county Governments. Recently, a Member said that even our counties have borrowed from their big brother, the National Government. County Governments make budgets based on projected revenues that are never realisable. Kiambu County has collected Ksh1 billion in the half year against a projection of Ksh7.98 billion. It is impossible to achieve the revenue targets that they had in the next four months to the end of the financial year. The same happens in the National Government. Therefore, it is imperative that when the National Treasury realises that the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) is not up to speed in terms of the projected revenue collection, it should review the expenditure downwards. It is time that the Budget and Appropriations Committee has food for thought on whether we put an embargo on new expenditure. I know this has been there, but we need to make sure that additional capital expenditure is checked. The other thing that we must check is our recurrent expenditure. I often see advertisements for jobs in the Public Service in the newspapers. Many of them may not necessarily be replacement of people who have left office. At the end of the day, this will lead to a very huge recurrent expenditure that will negate the fiscal consolidation that we are trying to pursue. As I conclude, and as I said, the National Treasury must ensure that fiscal consolidation is not only a term that exists in our books and those reports, but it is something that they must actualise this time round. Hon. Speaker, with those remarks, I beg to support the Motion."
}