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{
    "id": 1569941,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569941/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 153,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. John Mbadi",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury and Economic Planning",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Mr. Speaker, Sir, you could add me two minutes, so that they become three to enable me to explain this bit. Mr. Speaker, Sir, the economic shutdown led to a slowdown in the economic growth in the country and we failed to meet of our targets in terms of revenue collection. We also did not conclude the ninth review with the IMF, therefore, we lost USD$765 million going to budgetary support. As we speak, the World Bank's funding of BOP seems to be going to July because one of the things is that some of the legislations that were precedent to the release of these funds are delayed in the legislative process. The Conflict of Interest Bill was a key Bill for the World Bank to give us funding. When it was unlocked, there was no time to take our approval to the board. Now you see, we are going to June 30th with a Kshs97 billion hole that I did not prepare for as a Cabinet Secretary. These are challenges that inhibit our release of funds. Even when the National Assembly puts pressure on me on the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG - CDF), I do not even know what to do because the resources are constrained and we have to balance needs. Do you pay salaries or release money to the NG-CDF or release money to the counties? Do you pay salaries, or do you stop paying salaries? Those are questions that you have to ask yourself. You have debts to pay. You must pay those debts. If you default; the implications for our economy are dire. As I conclude, remember the reason we have tried very hard to make sure that we meet our obligations. There were six countries that were mentioned in 2021 by the IMF as candidates for restructuring as candidates for default. Five have defaulted. It is only Kenya that has survived. Angola, Ethiopia, Ghana, Chad and Zambia have defaulted. Five economies out of six; only Kenya survived."
}