State spent more on public debt in last financial year - CoB
More money was channelled to paying debt than the whole recurrent expenditure in the last Financial Year ending June, Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang'o has said.
While speaking at Spice FM on Thursday, Nyakang'o said the government paid 85 per cent of the debt(Sh1.360 trillion) owed in the last financial year.
"The revised figure for public debt in the just concluded financial year is Sh1.360 trillion out of which I have approved withdrawals of Sh1.168 trillion for debt repayment," she said.
"If you compare the figure for public debt and the figure for recurrent you will see that we have spent more on public debt than the whole recurrent expenditure for the government for the whole year."
In May, President William Ruto revealed that Kenya's gross public debt had hit the Sh8.8 trillion mark.
He explained that at the end of March, it had hit Sh8.8 trillion.
Ruto revealed that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) wanted Kenya to borrow more funds.
"International Monetary Fund (IMF) does not run the government, I do. The IMF does not make decisions for Kenya, I do. Our public debt stands at Sh8.8 trillion They wanted us to borrow more, but I said no," he said.
This is even as Auditor General Nancy Gathungu said there was no financial statement to show the country's debt position.
"The status of the country’s public debt is only included as an annexure in the Consolidated Fund Statement of expenditure," the auditor said.
A House committee report before Parliament showed Gathungu submitted to lawmakers that it was impossible to tell the current value of public debt.
"Consequently, it is impossible to ascertain the amount redeemed and current value, and therefore the validity of the public debt expenditure,” the report reads.
The report further revealed the heavy borrowing by Ruto's administration at Sh488.1 billion from the end of December 2022.
Treasury reported that as of March 30, 2023, the gross public debt was estimated at Sh9.634 trillion (66 per cent of GDP). As of December 2022, the public debt was Sh9.146 billion.
Gathungu, in the shocking revelations, further noted that no one knows how much loans and overdrafts are held by national and county governments. BY THE STAR
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