21 February 2010
Nairobi — Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta will give MPs a preview of the Budget when he reads the Budget Policy Statement.
The statement gives projections about the next Budget and is required to be read on or before March 21.
This new inclusion came into place last year with the amended Standing Orders (House rules) and the enactment of the Fiscal Management Act.
Mr Kenyatta will thus have a busy eight weeks, for it is around the same time that he ought to submit the Supplementary Budget to top up the current Budget. The national Budget has a deficit of Sh168.2 billion.
Stimulus package
Amendments to some laws to allow for the effective implementation of the Sh22 billion stimulus package is also on the cards, with those proposed in the Finance Act 2009 taking precedence.
The CDF Act is also to be amended to ensure that the devolved funds are used well.
However, MPs have their eyes set on a Sh150,000 salary increase, a doubling of the Sh5,000 sitting allowance -- up to a maximum of 15,000 per day -- and an annual pay increase of five per cent to cushion them from the rising cost of living.