East Africa Nations Plan Spending Boost Despite Fiscal Pressures

Eastern African nations are set to present more ambitious spending plans for the upcoming fiscal year, even as higher fuel costs and trade disruptions cast a pall over their economies.

Finance ministers in Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi will table their budgets for the fiscal year that starts in July on Thursday.

Inflated fiscal deficits pose the biggest challenge for most East African economies as the Iran war continues to simmer and keeps the price of oil and other commodities elevated, according to Phumelele Mbiyo, a senior macroeconomist with Absa Group Ltd.

“I think the war is ...