President William Ruto has assented to the Appropriations Bill 2024.
This is after he declined to sign the Finance Bill 2024 and sent a memorandum to the National Assembly rejecting all clauses of the bill.
Ruto said that the law requires him to assent to the Appropriations Bill by June 30, every year.
The signing of the Bill is to guarantee the continuity of government operations in providing critical services.
This will allow the national treasury to approve expenditures to counties and other organs.
Part of the reduced Sh346 billion was to be raised from the Finance Bill which the President declined to sign into law, therefore, enforcing the budget cuts.
Treasury projected to raise about Sh302 billion in projected revenues from the Finance Bill 2024, to fund the 2024-25 Sh3.9 trillion budget, alongside borrowing.
"I have therefore assented to the Appropriations Bill 2024 and instructed the National Treasury to immediately prepare supplementary estimates to reduce expenditure by the amount of revenue that was expected to be generated by the rejected Finance Bill 2024," the President said.
Ruto said the reduction in expenditure, amounting to Sh346 billion, will be borne equitably by the National and County Governments.
He said in the National Government the reduction will be borne by the executive, the legislature, the judiciary and constitutional commissions.
"Consequently, I have referred the County Allocation and Revenue Bill, which was based on expected revenues from the rejected Finance Bill, back to Parliament for reduction accordingly," he said.
The President added that he has directed the National Treasury to immediately submit to Parliament amendments to the Division of Revenue Act 2024 to reflect the reduced revenues occasioned by the rejected Finance Bill.
Ruto has further issued a directive that only critical and essential services are to be funded using no more than 15 per cent of the budget.
He said the directive will be enforced until the supplementary budget is approved.
Ruto on Wednesday declined to assent to the contentious Finance Bill, 2024 after widespread disapproval of the proposed legislation.
It was on the same day that Parliament went on recess until July 23, 2024.
While addressing the country on Wednesday, Ruto directed further austerity measures to reduce expenditure, starting with his office (Executive Office of the President) and extending to the entire executive arm of government.
“I direct that operational expenditure in the residency be reduced to remove allocations for the confidential vote, reduce travel budget, hospitality and purchase of motor vehicles, renovations and other expenditures,” the President said.
He further proposed that Parliament, the Judiciary and County Governments, working with the National Treasury, also undertake budget cuts and austerity to ensure the country lives within its means, a move that comes after an earlier Cabinet decision to cut spending.