The National Taskforce on Public Finance Management has convened meetings in Kisii County to collect views and opinions from residents about debt management.
Monica Asuna, who is the Director of Planning at the National Treasury in the Office of Debt Management, said the move was to formulate new laws or policies through public participation.
Speaking at the Culture Hall in Kisii town, Asuna said they had come to obtain opinions seeking to amend the definition of public debt in a bid to harmonize the national and county government debt within the constitutional legal framework.
“Today’s activity is to amend the Public Finance Management Act and its attendant regulations,” said Asuna.
She said that the attendant regulations of the Public Finance Management Act are the Public Finance Management Act National Government 2015 and the Public Finance Management Act County Government Regulations 2015.
She further said that the Constitution under Article 214(2) only defines public debt, but the attendant regulations of the Public Finance Management Act define both County Public Debt and National Public Debt which they were seeking to amend in order for it to harmonize with the Constitution.
“The second amendment is in line with the Public Finance Management Act National Government Regulation 2015 under Section 26(1c), which gives a debt ceiling of 10 trillion as amended in 2022,” said Asuna.
She said they were seeking to have a debt anchor of 55% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which meant that the nominal figure of 10 trillion concentrated much more on the consumption side than the nation’s productivity.
Kisii County government officials who were also present fully supported the amendments, which they said affected both the national government and county government.
By Martin Ndichu
