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{
    "id": 146486,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/146486/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 438,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Okemo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 198,
        "legal_name": "Chrysanthus Barnabas Okemo",
        "slug": "chrysanthus-okemo"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to thank the Minister for giving me the opportunity to make very brief comments. First, I think there are many changes in this Budget as compared to others before and in a positive direction. Devolution was one thing that hon. Members received positively. There are a few challenges and I just want to bring out what they are. The total Budget is about Kshs867 billion; the total receipts from all sources put together is about Kshs672 billion. So, the actual Budget deficit is Kshs195 billion. People have been talking about Kshs109 billion, I do not know where that is coming from. But if you look at the finance statements, it is Kshs195 billion. It is also shown there how the money is going to be raised and most of it is through bonds. If it is bonds, that means it is money that is going to come from the money market and that is going to be competing with the private sector, which means that the Minister has to really balance things out very carefully to ensure that he does not crowd out the private sector or create a situation where interest rates will go up and, therefore the cost of money will be high. So, I am just bringing out these things for the benefit of the Minister that he should take note of them. Directionally, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think the Minister has done better this year than last year because last year, the Recurrent Budget was 75 per cent of the total Budget. This year, the Recurrent Budget is 70 per cent of the total Budget, which means that the Development Budget has gone up by 5 per cent from 25 per cent to 30 per cent of the total. Obviously, that is where the growth comes from. So, I think that is the direction we need to encourage the Minister to move so that as we move along, we should end up with more development than recurrent expenditure because that is what creates growth. Finally, I think the Minister will need to be careful about the borrowing vis-Ă -vis where it is going. Fortunately, I have looked at the numbers very carefully and I have seen that the total revenue excluding any borrowings, more or less covers the Recurrent Budget. So, the borrowings only go towards a part of the Development Budget and I"
}