Publication: Decision Time : Spend More or Spend Smart? Kenya Public Expenditure Review
Date
2014-12
ISSN
Published
2014-12
Author(s)
World Bank Group
Abstract
Kenya is currently in an expansionary
phase of its fiscal policy reflected in a widening primary
deficit. The fiscal framework is marked by a significant
fiscal expansion over the last three years, 2011/12 to
2013/14. The fiscal stimulus implemented in 2009/10
increased aggregate spending by 2 percent of Gross Domestic
Product (GDP). However the envisaged fiscal retrenchment at
the end of the program did not materialize and fiscal
expansion continued with the general election in 2013.
Aggregate expenditure averaged 25 percent and revenue at 18
percent of GDP. The fiscal deficit financed through debt is
reflected in the doubling of the primary deficit (commitment
basis) now in the range of 3.3 percent of GDP, and the
rising stock of public debt from 37 percent to 43 percent of
GDP (net of deposits), of which about half 22 percent was
external debt in 2013/14. The fiscal developments have seen
an increase in the share of debt service in total spending
from 13 percent to 15 percent of recurrent spending,
equivalent to 2.6 percent of GDP. Kenya s debt service is
higher among East Africa Community (EAC) peers, 2 percentage
points above Ethiopia and Rwanda, and 1 percentage point
higher than Uganda and Tanzania.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank Group. 2014. Decision Time : Spend More or Spend Smart? Kenya Public Expenditure Review. © Nairobi. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21507 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”