Teachers, boundary review, social safety nets, and the textile industry are among those who will benefit from the Sh3.6 trillion proposed budget for the financial year 2023/24.
This comes after the National Assembly approved the Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) report on the 2023 Budget Policy Statement on Wednesday (BPS).
The adoption of the report now clears the way for the National Treasury to prepare and present budget estimates to the National Assembly by April 30, as required by the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act.
The passage, however, spells bad news to the Kenya Universities and Colleges Central Placement Service (Kuccps) and private universities.
But the House has condemned the proposal by the National Treasury to finance the Sh720 billion deficit in the budget through the borrowing of up to Sh521 billion from the domestic market against an external borrowing of Sh198 billion, in a move that will crowd out the micro, small and medium enterprises from local credit.
About 31 private universities that receive exchequer releases to support government-sponsored students are now staring at a crisis after lawmakers yesterday banned Kuccps from placing students in private universities, a move that will cushion public universities from closure over financial difficulties.
“In the next cycle of placements (2023), the State Department of Higher Education and Research, through Kuccps, should not place new government-sponsored students in private universities,” the BAC report on BPS reads.
