The budget, presented to Parliament on Thursday by Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Yusuf Murangwa, represents a 12% increase from the revised Rwf 7.0 trillion budget for the 2025/26 fiscal year.

Murangwa said the spending plan is designed to respond to global economic pressures while maintaining focus on priority sectors that drive long-term resilience.

"This budget reflects the realities of a challenging global environment while staying focused on what matters most: boosting agriculture, creating jobs, and building a resilient economy," he said.

"We have prioritised agriculture inputs and irrigation, continued investment in infrastructure and energy, and made room to protect the most vulnerable."

He added that the goal is to accelerate implementation of national development programmes without undermining macroeconomic stability.

Economic transformation takes lion's share

According to the budget breakdown aligned with the National Strategy for Transformation (NST2), the economic transformation pillar receives the largest allocation at 63%, equivalent to Rwf 4.9 trillion.

The funding will support agricultural productivity, expansion of electricity, water and sanitation services, transport infrastructure, and urban and rural settlement development. It will also finance initiatives aimed at climate resilience, local manufacturing, export growth, financial sector development, and job creation.

This scale of investment is underpinned by a period of strong economic performance. According to official data from the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda and the World Bank, the country's real GDP grew by 9.4% last year, surpassing the government's initial 7.0% target.

The expansion was driven by an 11% increase in the industrial sector, supported by construction and a 33% rise in mining activities, alongside 9% growth in the services sector.

Social and governance spending

The social transformation pillar is allocated 22% of the budget, or Rwf 1.7 trillion, to strengthen healthcare and education systems, expand social protection, improve nutrition services, and support gender and family programmes.

Transformational governance accounts for 15%, or Rwf 1.2 trillion, and will focus on service delivery, public finance management, justice sector reforms, peace and security, crime prevention, and economic diplomacy.

Financing structure

Total resources for the budget comprise Rwf 5.3 trillion in domestic revenues, Rwf 548.3 billion in external grants, and Rwf 2 trillion in external loans.

On the expenditure side, Rwf 3 trillion is allocated to development spending, while Rwf 4.8 trillion will go to recurrent expenditure.

The presentation comes as East African Community member states table their 2026/27 fiscal year budgets under the theme: "Deepening Regional Integration and Economic Resilience through Improved Regional Security, Domestic Revenue Mobilisation and Digital Transformation for Inclusive Growth."