Kenyans Eagerly Anticipate CS Yatani's Reading of the 2022/2023 Budget
All eyes are on National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani, who is slated to read the budget for the fiscal year 2022/2023 at 3.00 pm today at the National Assembly in Nairobi.
Leah Mukangai 
Kenyans are waiting anxiously to see what the government has budgeted for, despite recent price increases in essential necessities such as cooking oil, milk, and maize meals.
The budget is estimated to be Sh3.31 trillion which is 4.8 percent larger than the Sh2.9 trillion budget for the fiscal year 2020/21.
The Budget is presented two months earlier than usual, in June. This is to allow for adequate preparation for the general elections on August 9.
It will cover expenses from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023.
The budget will be the country's largest ever and President Uhuru Kenyatta's last as the Head of State. Kenyans have voiced their expectations even as the country finds a way of getting out of the worst ever economic situation that has seen inflation rates go past the 5.4 percentage mark in the month of March.
A majority of Kenyans who spoke to the press expressed optimism that the government will move in to stabilize the high cost of living by reducing the prices of basic commodities.
"Right now, the government is saying that things are high because of the Russia - Ukraine fighting but it is not the same. The government should have mercy on us," lamented Victor Omondi Ogembe, a Kisumu County resident.
Traders expect the cost of conducting business, which is heavily influenced by gasoline prices, to fall even as the country attempts to recover from the impacts of the Covid-19 outbreak, which has plagued the country for over two years.
