Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi is set to unveil his inaugural budget for the 2025/26 fiscal year, amounting to Ksh 4.2 trillion. As only the second CS to hold the Treasury docket under the current constitution, Mbadi’s plan will be closely scrutinized, particularly his tax proposals and spending priorities.
The budget outlines Ksh 1.79 trillion for recurrent expenditure, with Ksh 707.8 billion allocated to development initiatives. These funds will support infrastructure projects, economic growth, and social programs.
A significant chunk of the budget Ksh 1.34 trillion has been earmarked for Consolidated Fund Services (CFS). Notably, Ksh 1.1 trillion of this will go toward interest payments on Kenya’s ballooning public debt, which currently stands at Ksh 10.6 trillion. Treasury will also spend Ksh 239.6 billion on pensions and salaries for constitutional commissions and independent offices.
Counties, which have opposed Treasury’s proposed revenue sharing formula, are set to receive Ksh 405.1 billion to cover both operational and development needs. Of the three arms of government, the Executive will get the lion’s share at Ksh 2.5 trillion 59 percent of total spending. Within this, Ksh 10.2 billion is allocated to the Equalization Fund while the Office of the Auditor General gets Ksh 8.68 billion.
Parliament is set to receive Ksh 42.5 billion and the Judiciary Ksh 26.7 billion.
The education sector takes the largest share of national government expenditure with Ksh 701.1 billion, representing 28.1 percent. These funds will support capitation in primary, junior and senior secondary schools, TVETs, universities, and pay for teachers and lecturers.
Energy, infrastructure, and ICT sectors follow with Ksh 500.7 billion. Of this, Ksh 195 billion will go to road construction and rehabilitation, while Ksh 119 billion is allocated for urban development, including Ksh 95 billion for the Affordable Housing Fund.
Treasury projects to collect Ksh 3.3 trillion in ordinary revenue and Appropriations-in-Aid, setting the stage for one of the most ambitious fiscal years in recent memory.
