The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Ambassador Claver Gatete, yesterday, presented to both chambers of parliament the 2016/2017 national budget worth Rwf 1,949.4 billion, an increase of Rwf 140.6 billion compared to last year’s budget.
The 2015/2016 national budget was Rwf1808.8 billion.
During the presentation, the minister noted that Rwf 1,216.4 (62.4%) of the budget will be financed by internally generated revenues, an increase of Rwf 40.9 compared to 2015/16 where local budget financing was Rwf 1,175.5 billion.
Revenue collections have been projected at Rwf 1,071.6, the equivalent of 55% of the total budget and the deficit of Rwf 110.8 will be raised from sources other than taxes.
Loans from inside the country are expected to reach Rwf 34 billion.
Widening the tax base is among the major strategies that will help the government improve revenues for financing the national budget.
Increased awareness campaigns on the benefits of paying taxes, improving service delivery and popularizing the usage of Electronic Billing Machines (EBM) among tax payers across the country are among the measures to increase revenues.
External funding is expected to reach Rwf 733.0 billion, registering an increase of Rwf 99.7 billion up from Rwf 633.3 billion in 2015/2016 fiscal year.
Foreign aid is expected to reach Rwf 365.3 (18.7%) of the national budget while loans from outside the country are expected to reach Rwf 367.7(18.9%) of 2016/2017 budget.
The national budget reserved for recurrent activities is Rwf 958.7 billion (49.2%) of 2016/2017 budget while net lending is projected at Rwf 108.5 (5.6%).
The budget allocated to development activities in 2016/17 is Rwf 785.3 billion equaling 40.3 % of the national budget.
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