NAIROBI: Kenya expects a fiscal deficit at 5.7% of gross domestic product in its 2022/23 (July-June) budget versus 7.4% in 2021/22, a Finance Ministry document showed.
The document seen by Reuters on Wednesday affirmed an earlier economic growth forecast of 6.0% this year. The economy contracted 0.3% in 2020.
In August, the ministry had projected a 5.6% deficit in 2022/23. It is holding public hearings on the budget on Wednesday.
The ministry document said that, to fill the budget gap, it forecast net domestic financing of 408.1 billion shillings ($3.7 billion), or 3.0% of GDP, and net external financing of 367.8 billion shillings, or 2.7% of GDP.
Overall spending and net lending will stand at 3.23 trillion shillings in 2022/23 from 3.0 trillion shillings in the fiscal year to the end of June 2022.
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The East African nation, whose economy is still reeling from the negative effects of COVID-19, is bringing its budget-making timetable forward because of a general election due next August. The budget will be presented in March instead of the usual date in June.
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