Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1382345,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1382345/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 231,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nyaribari Masaba, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Daniel Manduku",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. From the onset, let me inform the House that I am a member of the Public Debt and Privatisation Committee, and it is my wish that the National Treasury adheres to its proposal as stipulated in the Medium-Term Debt Strategy. Ironically, the National Treasury proposes a borrowing strategy of 55 per cent being foreign and 45 per cent being local and yet, in the Budget Policy Statement, they are planning to borrow 63 per cent to 37 per cent this year. Further to that, this House, sometimes back, resolved that the debt anchor be 55 per cent. A few months down the line, our debt anchor to Gross domestic product (GDP) is at 69 per cent. I would have wished to see a situation where that debt anchor gradually starts going down towards a target of 55 per cent. The National Treasury has promised that they should achieve that anchor by June 2028. This House needs to sanction the National Treasury strongly so that from time to time, they are obligated to come and give reports on a quarterly basis. There is a problem with our debt. When it is borrowed, there is no rule or law on how it is applied in terms of development versus recurrent expenditures. Any good economist will tell you that debt should strictly be applied to development expenditure. It is very sad to see that we have borrowed a lot of money and used it on recurrent expenditure. In my view, going forward, we need to redefine recurrent vis - à-vis development expenditure with special emphasis on the development of human resources like teachers, doctors and other people who help in uplifting our social status as a country. Some Members keep comparing Kenya to countries like Japan and the United States of America, which have exceeded 100 per cent debt to GDP ratios. I want to remind them that those countries have a lot of foreign reserves running to billions of dollars. They also have monies that they have lent to countries like Kenya. So, a comparison to such countries is not appropriate. Lastly, in all discussions that we have had about public debt, we need to seriously consider having a Public Debt Act so that it can legislate and seal any loopholes that the Public Finance Management Act does not cover. This may reduce the abuse of Article 223 of the Constitution. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker."
}