EDITORIAL: Spur development vote – Business Daily

The National Treasury’s development expenditure record for the quarter starting July to September shows the spend went up by 115 percent to Sh48 billion compared to similar period last year at Sh22 billion.

This is positive in that recurrent expenditure has been gobbling up billions of shillings at the expense of development, slowing down growth and job creation.

The Treasury says the bulk of the Sh48 billion was channelled to the government’s Big Four programmes, covering roads, transport, water and sanitation.

When expenditure on roads, water, electricity, and real estate rises, other sectors benefit, especially the suppliers and the people who get employed, helping to boost money circulation and increase happiness, leading to more production.

It is upon planners to ensure that the development vote continues to rise, indeed made a priority, even at a time debt repayment has also been consuming hundreds of billions of shillings.

This will require a careful assessment to see areas of savings while beefing up growth expenditure, ensuring that in the subsequent quarters the allocation will keep increasing.