The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has torn apart Treasury's budget for the new financial year that starts in July, arguing that it has mixed up priorities and lacks a stimulus package to jump-start the economy.
In its latest report dated May 2020, “Unpacking the Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure for 2020/2021 and the Medium Term”, the budget office has also raised concerns that the Treasury has left the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic to well-wishers, which is not sustainable.
“Indeed, except for a Sh2.6 billion allocation towards mass testing of patients under the Kenya Covid-19 Emergency Response Project, the health budget remains more or less the same with only slight upward adjustments probably to cater for inflationary trends,” the report asserts.
“Though the Covid-19 Fund is an important intervention particularly with regard to raising resources, it may not be sustainable and should not be relied on solely to mitigate the impact of the crisis,” the report says, adding that the national budget must play its part.
For the next phase of recovery, the report says, the 2020/2021 budget should have also included measures to jump-start the economy as the health crisis wears off rather than leaving the recovery to market dynamics.
