GOK'S FY08 BUDGET - AN ATTEMPT TO WOO VOTERS OR BEGIN

UNCLAS NAIROBI 002641 SIPDIS STATE ALSO FOR AF/E, AF/EPS, AND AF/RSA STATE PASS TO USTR FOR BILL JACKSON TREASURY FOR VIRGINIA BRANDON SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EFIN EINV ELAB ETRD PGOV EAGR KE SUBJECT: GOK'S FY08 BUDGET - AN ATTEMPT TO WOO VOTERS OR BEGIN KENYA'S CLIMB TO MIDDLE INCOME STATUS BY 2030? REF: NAIROBI 1981 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶2. (SBU) Summary: On June 14, Kenya's Finance Minister Amos Kimunya presented the Kibaki government's budget for FY08 (July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008) to Parliament under the theme "Vision 2030 -- Working Together, on the Path to Prosperity." Proponents hail the expansionary budget's focus on development expenditure, its pro-poor proposals, and its structural reforms designed to improve the business environment and promote regional integration, while critics contend it is a thinly disguised ploy to woo voters during an election year with its programs likely to trigger inflation and deficit spending. End Summary. -------------- Increased shift to Development Expenditure -------------- ¶3. (U) On June 14, Finance Minister Amos Kimunya presented to Parliament the Kibaki government's FY08 budget under the theme "Vision 2030--Working Together, on the Path to Prosperity." Based on the gains made under the Economic Recovery Strategy (ERS) launched in 2003, the FY08 budget is the first stage of the government's ambitious Vision 2030 program intended to bring Kenya into middle-income nation status (reftel). It is the most expansionary budget in Kenya's 44-year history as an independent nation. Its projected outlays total Ksh 693.6 billion (US$9.9 billion),marking a hefty 36.4% increase from FY07. Premised on Vision 2030, the budget is intended to define the path for building a strong economy and reduce poverty. Assuming an economic growth rate of 6.5%-7% in 2007, the Government of Kenya (GOK) will allocate Ksh 201.7 billion (about US$2.9 billion),a 41.6% increase over the FY07, to infrastructure development, a major shift from the past. Recurrent expenditures for FY8 amount to Ksh491.9 billion (about US$7.0 billion),which is 70.3% of the total budget compared to 74.8% in FY 2006-07. -------------- Funding the Budget -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The Kibaki Administration's expenditure proposals will leave a huge deficit to finance its activities. The Finance Ministry projects revenue collection for FY08 at 20.8% of GDP �00A;equivalent to Ksh428.8 billion (about US$6.1 billion),which is an increase of 14% over the past fiscal year. The overall budget deficit including grants amounts to Ksh109.8 billion (about US$1.6 billion) equivalent to 5.3% of GDP. After factoring net external financing of 1.9% of GDP equivalent to Ksh39.8 billion (US$568.6 million) to the budget, the anticipated deficit is Ksh70 billion (about US$1.0 billion) or 3.4% of the GDP. According to Minister Kimunya, the deficit will be largely financed by privatization receipts of Ksh41.9 billion (about US$598.6 million) and domestic borrowing of Ksh34 billion (about US$485.7 million). Planned for privatization is Telkom Kenya, the country's monopoly landline telephone parastal. The GOK also plans on floating additional shares of Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen),selling part of its GOK shares in the mobile company Safaricom through an Initial Public Offer (IPO) on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE),and selling part of the GOK's National Social Security Fund (NSSF) shares in National Bank of Kenya (NBK). To ensure transparency and accountability in the privatization process, the GOK is to make operational the Privatization Commission before year's end. (Note: A close scrutiny of the revenue estimates and the FY08 Financial Statement reveals privatization receipts of Ksh44.9 billion (about US$641.4 million),leaving unexplained a variance of Ksh3 billion (about US$42.9 million). End note.) Net FY08 domestic borrowing is 1.6% of the GDP, which is lower than last year's. The funds raised from privatization and domestic borrowing are to finance development expenditures. (Comment: However, the GOK will likely have to borrow from the domestic market to meet its expansionary expenditures since we question whether the privatization proceeds' target will be met. End Comment.) -------------- Expansionary Budget for Development -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The GOK's expansionary budget is re-oriented towards development, targeting growth and poverty-reducing programs in the areas of infrastructure, health, and education, which are expected to lay the foundation for achieving Vision 2030. Although Kimunya acknowledged challenges, including implementation delays, weak links between actual spending and policy priorities in key line ministries, expenditure leakages, and low absorption of funds, he increased domestically financed expenditures to 4.1% of GDP from 3.0% in FY07. In line with Vision 2030 aspirations, Kimunya identified six priority sectors as having the highest potential for economic growth and job creation: tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, business processing outsourcing, and financial services. Appropriations, which are intended to bolster these sectors, include: -- infrastructure development, Ksh166.8 billion (US$2.4 billion),up by 113% from Ksh78.3 billion (US$1.1 billion) in FY07; -- road infrastructure development, Ksh62.1 billion (about US$887.1 million) an increase of 46% from Ksh42.5 billion (about US$589.5 million) in 2006-07; -- supply of electricity, Ksh8 billion (about US$114.3 million); -- ICT infrastructure expansion through investment in an undersea fiber optic cable and the development of a "National Fiber Optic Network," Kshs1.0 billion (about US$14.3 million) towards The East African Marine System (TEAMS) project; -- education sector, Ksh119.5 billion (about US$1.7 billion) up by 11% from FY07, with Ksh8.1 billion (US$115.7 million) for free primary education, Ksh7.3 billion (about US$104.3 million) for teachers salary adjustment, Ksh2.5 billion (about US$35.7 million) to recruit an additional 11,000 teachers, and Ksh2.9 billion (US$41.4 million),effective from January 2008, to cover all tuition fees for secondary school students countrywide; -- health sector, Ksh.34.4 billion (about US$491.4 million); -- agriculture sector, Ksh29.8 billion (about US$425.7 million) up 20% from Ksh24.9 billion (about US$345.4 million) in FY07. -------------- -- Goodies to the Voters or Addressing Real Needs? -------------- -- ¶6. (U) In addition, the finance minister announced new social spending for disadvantaged groups, saying the appropriations are needed to respond to real social needs. The GOK will allocate Ksh1.3 billion (about US$18.6 million) for acquiring land to settle squatters who are internally displaced to improve their living standards and increase food safety. To empower young adults, Kimunya earmarked an additional Ksh250 million (about US$3.6 million) for the Youth Enterprise Fund, thus raising it to Kshs.1.25 billion (about US$17.9 million). In addition, he said the government would establish a Kshs2.0 billion (about US$28.6 million) "Women Enterprise Development Fund" (WEDF),with an initial outlay of KShs1.0 billion (about US$14.3 million). ¶7. (SBU) In a move which drew considerable applause, the finance minister exempted pensioners from paying tax while instituting a 3% pension increase, payable every two years. He said the government would amend the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Act to provide the monthly 5% of the total wages of casual workers paid by employers be declared as surplus benefit to allow casuals and self-employed to voluntarily join and benefit from the NSSF. To encourage development of housing and affordable shelter for Kenyans, the minister zero-rated taxable goods and taxable services supplied to specific projects for the construction of a minimum of 20 units of houses for the benefit of low income earners. The Retirement Benefit Act (RBA) is to be amended to allow pension benefits as a security for accessing housing loans. (Note: these measures have triggered considerable debate with some commentators speculating that they are thinly disguised ploys to appeal to voters, especially women and young adults, ages 18-35, who comprise major voting blocks in an election year. Others, who accept the allocations are geared towards helping disadvantaged groups, especially squatters, point out that the government has yet to define who qualifies as "low income" or a squatter. They maintain the GOK should first have created a legislative framework to establish the purposes of such funds, their mechanisms (rather than relying in taxes as seed money),the duration of their existence, and the manner of winding them up and assessing their successes. End Note.) -------------- Security, Crime, and Defense Spending -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Acknowledging the monumental challenges of organized crime plaguing the country, Minister Kimunya declared the government would increase resources to various security agencies. The budget will allocate Ksh13.9 billion (US$198 million) to the Kenya Police Department under the Ministry of State for Provincial Administration and Internal Security, in part to fund recruitment of an additional 25,000 police officers. The GOK will provide an additional Ksh6.8 billion (about US$97.4 million) a 13.2% increase from FY07, to the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS). The new budget also allocates target funding of Ksh662 million (about US$9.5 million) for the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for community policing, and another Ksh708 million (US$10.1 million) for police reforms. To deal with increased poaching, foreign refugees, and small arms, the GOK will provide the Ministry of Defence (MOD) with Ksh38.9 billion (about US$555 million or 5.6% of its total expenditure),an increase of 41.3% from last year's budget. (Note: MOD sources have hinted that the increased military allocation is for the purchase of aviation assets, trucks, and other military hardware. Probing the security allocations within the FY08 budget reveals that some intelligence and security spending comes under the umbrella of the Office of the President and are thus not openly available for analysis. End Note.) -------------- Reducing Business Barriers -------------- ¶9. (U) Acknowledging the importance of an efficient and predictable regulatory business environment, Finance Minister Kimunya said in the past year, out of the total 1,325 business licenses, 110 had been eliminated and 8 simplified. He promised the GOK would eliminate another 205 licenses and simplify another 371. He revealed that the GOK is working on a "Regulatory Reform Strategy" to provide a blue print for future efforts to streamline and improve the broader regulatory business environment, and to build regulatory reform capacities. The key aim of the strategy is to cut government red tape in priority areas by 25% over the next three years. (Comment: Despite the reform process to reduce the regulatory burden borne by the private sector, a licensing regime of 1,010 licenses is still high, cumbersome and a constraint to efficient setting up of enterprises. End comment.) -------------- Deepening EAC Integration -------------- ¶10. (U) Following consultations with his Ugandan and Tanzanian counterparts, Kimunya reported that the East African Community (EAC) finance ministries agreed to reduce the import duty rate from 25% to 10% on felt material used in the manufacture of oil and air filters for motor vehicles. They also agreed to remove import duty rates on textile fabrics and on millstones and grindstones for milling, grinding or pulping. They agreed to decrease the Import Declaration Fee (IDF) from 2.75% to 2.25% for all goods imported from outside the EAC, while no IDF will be charged on goods imported from EAC member states. Other measures geared towards integration include treating all EAC citizens who invest in the Nairobi Stock Exchange and earn dividend income as Kenyan residents and amending the Capital Markets Act to increase the percentage of IPOs reserved for Kenyans from 25% to 40% and treating citizens of other East African Community partner states as local investors. -------------- Promoting Agriculture -------------- ¶11. (U) Kimunya unveiled several initiatives to help the agricultural sector. They include value addition in agro processing, institutional reforms towards food security and governance to support farmers and promotion of storage and processing plants and fisheries. To encourage growth of the dairy sub-sector and processing of excess milk into powder, the GOK zero-rated milk powder for VAT purposes. It will also zero-rate pyrethrum extract to encourage the manufacture of insecticides using local pyrethrum extract, increase the export duty on local hides and skins from 20% or Ksh10 per kilo to 40% or Ksh20 per kilo, and impose an excise duty of 120% on plastic bags and ban the importation and manufacture of thin plastic bags under 30 microns to protect the environment. -------------- Old Ways of Budgeting -------------- ¶12. (SBU) While many local analysts praise the budget as one that lays the foundation for future growth and is friendly to the poor, some experts predict it will trigger a rise in inflation. According to Dr David Ndii, an economics lecturer at the University of Nairobi, the budget is "highly inflated with a huge deficit that only points to a rise in inflationary pressure in the next 12 months." Ndii said borrowing Ksh34 billion (about US$485.7 million) from the domestic market and plans to use debt rollover from the current financial year to plug the budget hole is a breeding ground for runaway inflation, which would hurt those in the low income bracket. Inflation has been steadily rising in recent months helped by turbulence in crude oil prices and unpredictable weather patterns that have piled pressure on food prices. Low income bracket earners spend nearly half of their income on essential commodities such as paraffin and food compared to seven per cent of top income bracket earners in similar items. Inflationary pressure is likely to kick off from aggressive borrowing from the domestic market in the event that the GOK fails to get the proceeds of privatization it has factored in the budget. According to Ndii, although the economy will continue to be robust, drastic policy interventions may have to be taken in light of the strengthening shilling and the possibility of high inflation rates. "We are returning to the old ways of budgeting for money that we don't have." ¶13. (SBU) Others fault the budget for failing to define the path towards Vision 2030. Charles Muchene, the country director for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC),questions the exclusion of the implementation plan that is expected to consume massive resources from the budget. Failure to factor it into the budget, he maintains, could hamper its initial take off expected to be launched in July. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶14. (SBU) Teachers, women, young adults, housing developers, farmers, pensioners, and squatters are this budget's biggest (short-term) beneficiaries, as Finance Minister Amos Kimunya seemingly is targeting key voting demographics for the upcoming winter 2007 elections. His budget speech vowed to make Kenya a competitive investment destination by among other ways abolishment of additional licenses. Building on the three pillars of Vision 2030 (reftel),he seemingly has his fiscal and developmental priorities and policies well conceived. Nevertheless, implementation, coordination, and fiscal discipline are critical to the government actually delivering on its FY08 budget's promised benefits. The budget's provisions do indeed look promising, but they lack governance mechanisms and may become prone to mismanagement and abuse. Since the Kibaki Administration took over in January 2003, it has been dogged by program implementation mishaps, with many line ministries' actual expenditures well below their development budget allocations. Last year's budget theme of "reducing poverty and addressing inequality in the country" saw most of the minister's proposals not seeing the light of the day when the Finance Act was published. ¶15. (SBU) The budget faces various risks including inflation and insecurity that could impede the delivery of its planned development agenda despite Kenya's current economic recovery. Additionally, inadequate utilization of funds in development expenditure could slow infrastructure development. Unless low absorption capacity common in public works, health, water, and transport sectors are tackled comprehensively, the huge allocations will end up back to the Treasury come FY09. Although the budget has made generic references to governance reforms, it lacks candid actions that would improve overall transparency especially on monies allocated to popular programs such as youth, women, and squatter settlement. End comment. Ranneberger