THE EAST AFRICA 10 MAR 2020
The Kenyan Parliament has directed the National Treasury to submit the list of projects to be financed through debt. This, parliamentary Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) argue, will lift the lid of secrecy surrounding the utilisation of borrowed funds.
The (BAC) has accused Treasury of being opaque on the specific use of debt proceeds on Wednesday demanded a list of all projects as a condition to approve the 2020/2012 budget.
Kenya’s public debt is gravitating towards the $60 billion mark, blamed on the high levels of opaqueness Treasury deploys when borrowing and failure to reveal planned use of the proceeds.
Now parliament is demanding clarity in terms of projects that Treasury intends to finance through debt.
All along, Treasury has maintained the borrowed resources go towards budgetary support and financing of unspecified development projects, mainly large infrastructure projects.
In its report on the 2020 Budget Policy Statement tabled in the House, BAC said that Treasury must provide adequate information on debt, clearly indicating the amount of concessional, semi concessional and commercial loans as well as outlining the country’s borrowing strategy.
