The theme of the 2014 National Budget Policy statement which this paper uses as reference is:Economic Transformation for a shared prosperity in Kenya.This 2014 County Fiscal Strategy Paper sets out the County priority programs to beimplemented in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework for 2014/15 -2016/17. Theseprograms which are in line with the County's Integrated Development Plan CIDP and theCountry's Vision 2030 will help transform the county's economy and build a shared prosperity.Kwale county has a strong potential for greater economic growth. Recent developments onrenewed investments within the county such as in the mining sector and agri-business industryhave given an impetus for accelerated economic growth prospects and creation of jobopportunities in Kwale.The expenditure policy framework which the county will adopt in the medium term aims atensuring efficiency and effectiveness in the implementation of our development policies. Aspart of efforts to link policy with budgeting, reforms in the expenditure and financialmanagement will be deepened, and growth of non-priority expenditures will be contained inorder to create fiscal space for financing priority policy areas such as the social sectors,agriculture and physical infrastructure, which are key to sustainable economic growth anddevelopment. While significant progress has been realized in implementing the Medium TermExpenditure Framework (MTEF) in terms of linking policies, planning and budgeting andshifting budgetary resources to priority areas, the process continues to face some challenges.Kwale county government will continue to address these challenges by:-(i) Initiating an early comprehensive effort on costing all existing policies, programs, andprojects;(ii) Building links between recurrent and development budget; and(iii) Developing a more programmatic approach to the budget, with a view to improving thelinkage between expenditure and results.In line with the need to achieve the national objectives over the medium term, the CountyFiscal Strategy Paper will adopt the strategy as outlined in the 2014 National BPS forachieving sustainable growth .The strategy covers five broad areas which include:-i. creating conducive business environment in order to encourage innovation,investment, growth and expansion of economic and employment opportunitiesiiii. investing in agricultural transformation and food security to expand food supply,reduce food prices, support expansion of agro-processing industries and spurexport growthiii. investment in key infrastructure areas, including roads, energy and water to reducecost of doing business and improve competitivenessiv. investing in quality and accessible healthcare services and education as well associal safety net to reduce burden on households and complement and sustain ourlong term growth and developmentv. further entrenching devolution for better service delivery and enhanced ruraleconomic developmentThe fiscal framework included in this 2014 County Fiscal Strategy Paper outlines anaffordable and sustainable path of public spending aimed at achieving Governments mediumterm development priorities. Other objectives that guided preparation of the 2014 CFSPinclude the following:-(i) Producing a budget that is affordable and sustainable;(ii) Not factoring in any external budgetary support from multilateral and bilateral sourcesas continuation of the commitment to ensure budget predictabilityIn keeping in line with the theme of economic transformation and building a shared prosperity,Kwale county will implement priority programs as set out in this paper to accelerate andsustain a broad based economy to help achieve the countrys economic growth target at about10 percent.

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