August 16, 2022: The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in partnership with Collectif des Ligues et Associations de Défense des Droits de l'Homme au Rwanda (CLADHO) today commenced the distribution of the FY 2022-23 Citizen Budget Guide. A Citizens Budget Guide is a simpler, less technical version of the national budget specifically designed to present key information to the public.

The preparation and dissemination of the Citizen Budget Guide is in line with the principles of fiscal transparency and accountability which is one of the ways through which citizens are made aware of what government does, hence encouraged to participate in the planning and budgeting process.

The Citizen Budget Guide is purposely disseminated to increase citizens’ understanding of the national planning and budgeting process and promotes their participation in both the planning and implementation of the selected It provides a summary of Rwanda’s economic outlook and tax policy reforms, the FY2022/23 national budget, the budget process and how citizens can participate, key investments to accelerate economic recovery and transformation, the role of different stakeholders.

“I wish to thank everyone for their continuous participation in the planning and budgeting process and more specifically for this fiscal year 2022/23. I also take this opportunity to call upon all citizens for effective participation in budget implementation and monitoring of related programs and projects through their different forums, which highly informs subsequent national planning and budgeting processes,” Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, the Minister of Finance and Economic Planning said.

The Executive Secretary of CLADHO Safari Emmanuel highlighted the importance of citizen participation in the budget process noting that as end users, they should be able to understand and partake in budget preparation and execution.

The total budget for fiscal year 2022/2023 is Frw 4,658.4 billion with an increase of Frw 217.8 billion represented by 5% compared to the 2021/2022 fiscal year revised Budget of Frw 4,440.6 billion. Domestic resources total to Frw 2,654.9 billion representing 57% of the total budget, while external resources are worth Frw 2,003.5 billion which accounts for 43%. Total domestic resources and external loans combined account for 80.5% of the entire budget, whereas external grants are projected at 19.5%. Recurrent expenditure amounts to Frw 2585.1 billion which is 55.4% of the total budget with development of Frw 2073.3 billion taking up 44.6%.

The 2022-23 Citizen Budget Guide dissemination and distribution marks the 11^th time the booklet has been disseminated