This is the third report on budget implementation by the Office of Controller of Budget for the 20L2l2Al3 financial year. One of the functions of the Office of the Controller of Budget (OCOB), as stipulated in the Constitution (Article 228(4), is to oversee the implementation of the Budgets for both national and county governments. Having successfully concluded the general elections and subsequently establishing a devolved system of government, the 20L212013 budget serves as a transitional one, with national resources shared equitably according to the criteria set by the Commission on Revenue Allocation. The key blue prints of the Government of Kenya, particularly Vision 2030, have laid emphasis on the need for efficiency and better management in the utilization of public resources to enable the government achieve its strategic objectives of growth, productivity, and improvement in service delivery. To achieve the country's development agenda of creating a globally competitive and a middle class economy by the year 2030, there is need for greater transparency and high quality management of public finances at both levels of government. This is fundamentally essential if we are to ensure fiscal discipline and safeguard the stability of our economy. The economy recorded mixed performance during the year. The overall GDP growth rate for the year 2012 was3.7 per cent against 5.2per cent projected by the 2O12 BPS. This was a decline compared to 4.4 per cent which was recorded the previous year. Inflation rate improved for the period January to March to average 4.11 per cent compared to 16.9 per cent over the same period last year. The exchange rate deteriorated marginally against major currencies. The local currency traded at an average of Kshs 86.5 against the US dollar between January and March compared to Kshs. 83.5 for the same period last year. However, compared to the previous quarter, the exchange rate depreciated from Kshs'85.14 to Kshs 86.5 mainly due to anxiety during the electioneering period. The total revenue receipts as at end of March 2013 stood at Kshs. 737 .6 billion against a target of Kshs. 900.3 billion, for the period under review, representing a performance of 81.9 per cent. Total Domestic taxes category contributed the highest amount of Kshs. 510.46 billion representing a growth rate of. 12.3 per cent over the same period last financial year. The total exchequer issues for the period under review were Kshs. 738.2 billion. This comprised of Kshs. 586.8 billion for recurrent and Kshs. 151.4 billion for development expenditure. However, requisitions amounting to Kshs. 68.4 billion were not funded as at 28th March 2013. The total expenditure for the period under review was Kshs. 684.9 billion. The MDAs recurrent expenditure amounted to Kshs.416.7 billon which represents an absorption rate of 57.5 per cent compared to 66.2 per cent over the same period last financial year. Development expenditure amounted to Kshs. 119.3 billion representing an absorption rate of 25.9 per cent of this year's budget compared to 37.6 per cent over same period last financial year. Finally, there is need to improve on budget execution for the country to achieve targeted economic growth. Further, the office recommends timely release of exchequer requests so as to improve on the absorption rate. There is a need for the revenue collecting agency to hasten reforms aimed at among others widening the tax base in order to increase the annual revenue. Further, there is need to rationalise budget allocation on non-core activities such as hospitality and both domestic and foreign travels to focus more on those which contribute to growth in the economy.

In pursuit of our mandate as stipulated by the Constitution, I am delighted to present the Third Quarter Budget Implementation Review Report covering the period ending March 2013. This Report, which is the third in the series of budget implementation reports for the financial year 201212013, is a result pf a careful and objective analysis of the budget and its implementation by various government agencies. According to Article 228 (6) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, The Office of the Controller of Budget is required to submit a report on the implementation of the budget to the Executive and Parliament, for both the National and County Governments on quarterly basis. A critical aspect of this mandate is the requirement that the Controller of Budget oversees the implementation of the budgets of these two levels of government by authorizing withdrawals from public funds under articles 204,206 &207. Coming soon after the just concluded general elections with a new Government and a devolved governance structure, this report brings into focus the need to clearly define and implement the support framework of these institutions to enable them to effectively discharge their services at these levels. In this report we have compared the implementation of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)'s current budget to the performance over the same period last Financial Year (FY) in order to evaluate the utilisation and absorption rate. In addition, the report highlights the revenue and expenditure performance of these agencies and the macro-economic environment under which the budget implementation was realized. The report has been produced at a time when the country's economy is experiencing a slowdown attributed to a shortfall in revenue collection and anxiety associated with the general elections. The shortfall in revenue collection saw a substantial amount of exchequer requests from MDAs not funded leading to low absorption among the MDAs. In order to address the above mentioned issues, the government needs to rationalise expenditures on such activities as hospitality, domestic and foreign travels. Budget monitoring remains a crucial tenet of the budget execution process. This report therefore, provides an opportunity for readers to interrogate, participate in and assess the implementation of both national and county governments' budgets as well as scrutinize Government's service delivery.