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{
    "id": 1503181,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1503181/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 421,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tetu, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Geoffrey Wandeto",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I also rise to support this Bill, especially the amendment regarding accounting principles. We all know that globally, we use the accrual system of accounting. But maybe what the Chairperson and the Mover of the Motion need to tell this House is how a shift from cash to an accrual system will make the Government's books look. Is it going to, for example, exaggerate our debt? Is it going to exaggerate our assets or diminish them? I would have expected that for such a substantial Bill, some scenario analysis would have been included. However, I support my colleague, Hon. Mbui, on the issue of the debt ceilings because that matter has kept shifting from one regime to another, and from one Parliament to another. As a country, we need to determine how we want to measure our debt once and for all. It looks like many of those moves are for the convenience of the Government or regime of the day. Sometimes we want a debt ceiling of Ksh10 trillion or a percentage of the GDP. Now we are shifting to the number of years that we are supposed to pay back the debt. That lack of clarity makes economic planning very difficult. If we have already passed the 55 per cent debt to GDP ratio that is already in law, it may be okay for us to proceed with that. Remember, the single biggest problem ailing this country is public debt. We are spending up to 68 per cent of all the revenue that we collect on servicing debt. We all know that domestic borrowing is choking small businesses from being able to borrow from banks and operate in the economy. Anything that we can do to ensure that our debt is sustainable and that it is not taking the “oil” that fuels the economy is very important. Anything that we can do to ensure that small businesses are not put out of business because they cannot compete with the Government in domestic borrowing is also very important. I also expected that as we discussed the debt ceiling, we would also get some clarity on the difference between foreign debt and local debt. We have just lumped everything together. We have all been saying that we need to move progressively towards more foreign debt, so that we stop crowding out small businesses and individuals from the local debt market, which limits consumption in the country and slows down the economy. I would like to seek clarity on those points from the Mover of the Bill. However, there is too much shift in policy. While I support the passing of the accrual system, I do not support the changes in terms of the five-year wait for the operationalisation of the new debt ceiling."
}