This Is What East African Governments Plan to Spend Next Year
This Is What East African Governments Plan to Spend Next Year
(Bloomberg) -- East African finance ministers will continue to spend to grow their economies, and in Kenya’s case, the government will raise taxes to help finance that.
Policymakers in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia all presented their budgets for the fiscal year that starts July 1. Here is an overview of some the highlights.
Kenya
Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich announced steps on Thursday to boost tax revenue by 37 billion shillings ($364 million) in the new fiscal year. That includes increasing the capital-gains tax rate to 12.5% from 5%, raising excise duties on vehicles by 5 percentage points, and imposing levies on gambling and electric cars.
| 2018-19 | 2019-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| GDP (% change) | 6.3 (calendar 2019) | 6.3 (calendar 2020) |
| Expenditure (trillion Kenyan shillings) | - | 2.8 |
| Tax revenue (trillion Kenyan shillings) | - | 1.8 |
| Budget deficit (as % of GDP) | 6.8 | 5.6 |
Rwanda
| 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GDP (% change) | 7.8 (calendar 2019) | 8.1 (calendar 2020) | 8.2 (calendar 2021) |
| Expenditure (trillion Rwandan francs) | 2.585 | 2.876 | - |
| Tax revenue (trillion Rwandan francs) | - | 1.5 | - |
Uganda
As it plans to start crude production in 2022, Uganda is spending on new infrastructure such as roads and an airport in its oil-rich region, as well as energy projects. While crude will boost the nation’s domestic revenue, the increased expenditure is pushing up the budget shortfall.
| 2018-19 | 2019-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total spending, including debt and interest payments (trillion Ugandan shillings) | - | 40.5 |
| Tax revenue (trillion Ugandan shillings) | 16.2 | 18.9 |
| Budget deficit (as % of GDP) | 5.8 | 8.7 |
Tanzania
| 2018-19 | 2019-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| GDP (% change) | 7.1 (calendar 2019) | - |
| Expenditure (trillion Tanzanian shillings) | - | 33.1 |
| Tax revenue (trillion Tanzanian shillings) | - | - |
| Budget deficit (as % of GDP) | 3.2 | 2.3 |
Ethiopia
Ethiopia will increase spending by 1.6% in 2019-20 to help boost growth, Finance Minister Ahmed Shide said in a recording of parliament proceedings aired on ruling party-controlled Fana Television. That will probably help the economy expand by 9%, according to Shide. At that growth rate, Ethiopia could take the crown of Africa’s fastest-growing economy in 2019 from Ghana.
| 2018-19 | 2019-20 | |
|---|---|---|
| GDP (% change) | 7.7% (calendar 2019) | 9% (calendar 2020) |
| Expenditure (billion birr) | 380.8 | 386.9 |
| Tax revenue (billion birr) | - | 289.8 |
* In some cases the budget presentations did not provide comparative numbers
--With assistance from Ken Karuri, Saul Butera and Samuel Gebre.
To contact the reporters on this story: Fred Ojambo in Kampala at fojambo@bloomberg.net;David Herbling in Nairobi at dherbling@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Malingha at dmalingha@bloomberg.net, Rene Vollgraaff, Ana Monteiro
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