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{
    "id": 1438661,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1438661/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 149,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Prof. Njuguna Ndung’u",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for the National Treasury and Economic Planning",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "This is an important step to strengthen the public finance management and I, therefore, direct all MDAs and county governments to migrate to accrual accounting starting 1st July 2024. This effectively means that the last financial statement to be prepared on cash basis by national and county governments will be for the Financial Year 2023/2024. Hon. Speaker, on Treasury Single Account, the PFM Act, 2012 and its attendant registration provides for the establishment of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) system at both national and county governments levels. Based on the experience over the last 10 years since the enactment of PFM Act, 2012, the need to review the scope of TSA implementation has become apparent. To improve public cash management, it is necessary to operationalise other elements of the TSA system that are envisaged in the law. The automation of Government payments through the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and the Central Bank of Kenya Internet Banking (IB) system, forms a good basis to widen the scope of TSA system. The National Treasury undertook an inventory of bank accounts and balances held by public sector entities in various financial institutions and established that, as at 30th June 2023, those entities held Ksh431.7 billion at various financial institutions. Those large cash balances were not immediately accessible at the time when the Government was very cash strained. To address this challenge and underscore the Government's unwavering commitment to fiscal discipline, transparency and efficiency in the management of public finances, the Cabinet approved the implementation of TSA system in a clustered approach. The system will consolidate Government cash resources into a single account held at the Central Bank of Kenya and sub-Treasury Single Accounts at the commercial banks. The National Treasury in this respect will establish a Treasury function to manage the TSA and TSA sub-account structure, so that every day, the Government financial position is known and ascertained. The migration to the TSA system commences on 1st July 2024. Let me now turn to resource allocation under the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA). The following are highlights to Government spending priorities in the coming financial year. In light of the revenue challenges, significant expenditure demands spending in the Financial Year 2024/25 will focus on Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda priorities on five core areas with the highest impact on the economy. The first one is the Agricultural Transformation and Inclusive Growth. Government focus will be on agricultural transformation and inclusive growth through the value-chain approach. This aims at providing adequate and affordable working capital to all farmers through co-operative societies, as we consider them as aggregators, and deploy modern agricultural risk management instruments that ensure farming is profitable and incomes are predictable. In addition, it aims to transform farmers from food deficit to surplus producers through input finance subsidies and intensive agricultural extension support. This will raise productivity of key food value-chains, reduce dependence on basic food imports, revamp underperforming export crops and expand to new high value emerging crops and boost tea value-chain through blending and branding. To attain food and nutrition security, I proposed an allocation of Ksh54.6 billion for various programmes under this sector. This includes Ksh10 billion for the fertiliser subsidy program, Ksh6.1 billion for the National Agricultural Value Chain Development Project, Ksh2.5 billion for the Enable Youth Program, Ksh2.4 billion for the Enable Youth and Women in Agriculture, Ksh747 million for Small-scale Irrigation and Value Addition Project and Ksh642.5 million for Food Security and Crop Diversification project. To improve livestock production, I propose Ksh2.4 billion for De-risking Inclusive and Value Enhancement of Pastoral Economies program, Ksh1.5 billion for Livestock Value-chain Support Project, Ksh1.5 billion for Kenya Livestock Commercialisation Program and The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}