For the first time, one of East African Community member states Burundi unveiled its budget concurrently with Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda who have presented annual spending plans for 12 consecutive years together.  

Kenya’s Ksh 3.02 trillion 2019/2020 budget by Treasury CS Henry Rotich dwarfed all four with Burundi having the lowest budget at just 82.4 billion shillings.

The government of Tanzania eliminated and reduced 54 licenses and fees as they had previously agreed with the private sector in the “Blueprint for improvement for the regulatory environment”.

the Tanzanian government has also imposed new taxes on wigs, licenses fees, and sanitary towels in the new budget.

In Uganda Finance Minister Matia Kasaija has allocated an additional Ush 1,500 billion to security so as to enhance its capacity.

Ush 1.054.6 bn has also been allocated towards agriculture.

In the budget, an additional Ush 57.8 billion has been provided to the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) to embark on the south-west tourism circuit.

The scheme to enhance financial credit for youth and women was enhanced with Ushs130 bn and Ush 32bn respectively.

There was also an increase in the budget allocation for education in Uganda where the previous year they allocated Ush 2781.1 billion in 2018/2019 while this year they have allocated it with Ush 3,373 billion.

In Rwanda, the trade deficit increased by 9.3% in 2018 because imports and exports increased by 8.1% and 7.2% respectively in 2018 as compared to the previous year.

Economic plans enshrined in the 2019/20 budget, as well as a medium term, will focus generally on “industrialization for job creation and inclusive economic growth” which is also the theme of the Kenyan budget.

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