Bonface Kanyamwaya, a journalist at TUKO.co.ke, has more than 10 years of financial, economic, business, markets, and aviation expertise, providing insights into Kenya and global trends.

National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has warned that workers' monthly wage bill has risen to KSh 80 billion, on account of the onboarding of Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers and enhanced pay for the disciplined forces.

The spike in spending on salaries by the state from KSh 75 billion per month in December 2024 is also largely due to enhanced pay for lecturers.

The increased amount the National Treasury is paying on salaries is likely to weigh down on the government's spending.

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"Today, we are paying KSh 80 billion per month at the national level for salaries. Per year, it is KSh 960 billion, and it's going to KSh 1 trillion," said Mbadi when he appeared before the National Assembly on Wednesday, April 16.

Mbadi said that Keya is currently collecting KSh 2.5 trillion and spending KSh 1.1 trillion on loan repayment, which makes it impossible to set a side some money for development.

But despite these challenge, the CS said that Kenya's development has been sustained by grants from international partners.

Kenya has been receiving grants and concessionary loans from development partners to help support various programmes in the country.

Kenya tops the East and Central Africa region as the biggest beneficiary of funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB) over the last decade.

Data from the Pan-African lender shows that the AfDB approved a total of $3.718 billion (KSh 482.22 billion) to Kenya between 2013 and 2023, followed by $2.83 billion to neighboring Tanzania and a further $1.18 billion (KSh 153.04 billion) to Rwanda.

Sectors such as energy, road construction, and water have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of the billions of dollars from AfDB, making the pan-African lender an integral development partner of Kenya.

Meanwhile, the ex-Budget and Appropriation Committee chair Ndindi Nyoro has faulted the state over increased borrowing, leading to an increased debt rate in the country.

Nyoro, in a recent press conference, said the Kenyan government has been inflating the value of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through expensive loans, which they eventually use to pay lower-interest loans.

The Kiharu lawmaker, whose relationship with President William Ruto has not been cordial in the last few months, claimed that the country spends over 40% of its revenue on loan interest payments, terming it a worrying trend.

Source: TUKO.co.ke