The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is set to table, in parliament, a proposal that seeks to increase public spending by Rwf141 billion in this fiscal year. The proposal to increase the budget is contained in the draft law modifying and complementing the law determining the state finances for the 2018/2019 fiscal year, which was approved by a cabinet meeting held on Monday. If passed by Parliament either this week or next month, the revised budget could increase the current budget estimated at slightly over Rwf2.4 trillion. The Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, Uzziel Ndagijimana, said yesterday at a post-cabinet meeting press briefing that the money will be raised through tax and non-tax revenues, which supposed government forecasts in the first half of the fiscal year. The government is increasing spending in order to support key projects in infrastructure, education, agriculture, and healthcare among other sectors. “We would like to allocate the money for priority activities in key sectors such as education, agriculture, and new government agencies,” he said. About Rwf3.3 billion will be used for the next four months to pay teachers’ wages, which were increased by 10 per cent on Monday. The current budget, which runs up to June 30, 2019, was designed under the theme; Industrialisation for Job Creation and Shared Prosperity in order to emphasise government’s will to invest in supporting local industries as it seeks to bolster production and create more job opportunities, mainly for the youth. The portion for the development budget has mainly been allocated to boosting youth employment programmes, with an aim to create 216,000 off-farm jobs and empower the youth with new skills. The government has also been investing in building roads, increasing irrigation projects, building new and repairing key electricity transmission lines, improving water supply in both rural and urban areas, and building hospitals and classrooms among other priorities in the current year. The Government has planned to finance the current budget by 68 per cent through domestic resources, 16 per cent through loans, and expects 16 per cent to come from grants. It has planned that spending of the budget will go into funding three pillars, with the economic pillar taking the lion’s share of 57 per cent of the budget, social welfare claiming 27 per cent, while good governance takes 16 per cent. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
