Spending by the national government on development projects has once again dropped to single-digit levels, raising concern over the shrinking investment in job-creating initiatives and the future of the country’s growing skilled youth population.

According to the latest data published by National Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi, ministries, departments, and agencies spent Sh335.08 billion on development projects in the financial year ending June 2025.

This amount represents only 9.39 percent of the total Sh3.57 trillion withdrawn from the exchequer during the period, with the bulk of the funds going to recurrent expenses such as salaries, office operations, and debt repayments.

This marks the second consecutive year that development expenditure, as a share of total spending, has fallen below 10 percent—a trend that poses significant challenges to infrastructure expansion, job creation, and long-term economic growth.

Development budgets have consistently been the first to suffer cuts whenever governments adjust spending through supplementary budgets to accommodate programmes not initially approved or to cover revenue shortfalls.

Treasury officials have often said that recurrent spending offers little room for cuts because of the need to maintain essential government functions.

In the 2024/25 financial year, allocations to domestically financed development projects were slashed from Sh458.87 billion to Sh351.34 billion.

In contrast, recurrent expenditure, excluding debt repayments, was increased from Sh1.35 trillion to Sh1.44 trillion—an indication of the government’s continued prioritisation of short-term operational needs over long-term investments.

For the current financial year ending June 2026, lawmakers voted to raise the overall development budget—including money from development partners—by 14.9 percent to Sh721.52 billion.

However, the Budget and Appropriations Committee of the National Assembly has expressed doubts about whether this increase will be realised in practice.

“The committee observed that while the financial year 2025/26 development expenditure is projected to increase, historically, development allocations tend to be front-loaded in the original estimates but are frequently revised downward in supplementary budgets,” said the committee, chaired by Samuel Atandi (Alego Usonga), in its report to the House.

“Therefore, the projected increase should be interpreted cautiously, as it may not translate into actual spending unless structural bottlenecks in development execution are addressed.”

The persistent decline in actual development spending despite rising budget estimates raises questions about the government’s ability to deliver on key projects, especially those aimed at reducing unemployment among young people and boosting productivity across sectors.