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{
    "id": 1569916,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569916/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 128,
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "(Hon. John Mbadi): Mr. Speaker, Sir, in responding to this Question, although this is an area that sometimes I am passionate about, I will not go overboard. To effectively manage the prevailing fiscal deficit in Kenya, the Government through the National Treasury has adopted a multi-pronged approach with notable focus on both revenue generation and expenditure control. You can call it revenue generation and expenditure or fiscal consolidation. There are several steps or approaches to this- (1) Strengthening financial controls; (2) Diversifying borrowing sources; (3) Improving debt repayment planning; and, (4) Promoting efficient resource allocation. Those are the steps that we are taking to ensure that we reduce the fiscal deficit to manage debt sustainability. I will give you an example. In the next financial year; 2025/2026, we plan to have a budget deficit of about 4.5 per cent and not 4.3 per cent as indicated in the document. We have revised it to 4.5 per cent compared to 4.9 per cent of this current financial year. Actually, it is going to be about 5.1 per cent in the next financial year. We are reducing the budget deficit. The best way to address, enhance or ensure debt sustainability is to persistently and consistently reduce budget deficit year by year. I want to report that in the Financial Year 2020/2021, the budget deficit was 8.3 per cent. In the Financial Year 2021/2022, it came down to 6.2 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In the Financial Year 2022/2023, it came down to 5.6 per cent and we came down to 5.3 per cent in the Financial Year 2023/2024. We are not at 5.1 per cent, but we want to move to 4.5 per cent. Continuously and in the medium term, we will be at 2.7 per cent. The reduction of budget deficit will help us on debt sustainability."
}