This archive report was first published on 17 August 2019.
Kenya's tax revenue in July was largely consumed by debt repayment and salaries, with the Government spending Sh55.4 billion on salaries and Sh33.7 billion on creditors.
The Kenya Revenue Authority collected Sh107 billion in taxes, adding to an opening balance of Sh98.8 billion and non-tax income of Sh308.6 million.
Only one state agency, the State Department for Energy, received development cash in the first month of the 2019/20 financial year, while all 47 counties went without a dime from the Exchequer.
The Government continued with its austerity measures, freezing all new development spending and capping recurrent expenditure.
According to the National Treasury's Statement for Revenue and Exchequer Issues, all State corporations and agencies will only be able to spend Sh286 billion by the end of September.
Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua directed that no capital expenditure is to be undertaken unless the particular expenditure item is an ongoing project and is specifically approved in writing by the National Treasury.
The July spending by Treasury came as the standoff between the Senate and the National Assembly over the amount of money the devolved units are supposed to receive from collected taxes threatens to cripple counties.
Treasury's efforts to collect cash held by various State agencies seem to have yielded only Sh300 million.
The Kenya Revenue Authority's performance in July was an improvement compared to the same period last year when the taxman collected Sh98.9 billion.
However, the taxes mobilised during this period were not enough to fund an expanded budget, forcing Treasury to borrow Sh770 billion during this period against an initial target of Sh635.5 billion, or 6.3 per cent of the GDP.
