Kenyan finance minister David Mwiraria faces a widening deficit

All three east African nations are also keen to reduce their reliance on aid.

Uganda faces the added expense of fighting a long-running war against northern rebels.

The new tax and spending plans will be closely scrutinised by foreign donors, who account for a high proportion of revenues in all three countries.

Deficit gap

The centrepiece of Kenya's budget is an 86.7 billion Kenyan shilling ($1.09bn) programme to upgrade the country's roads and power network in an effort to boost economic growth.

Finance minister David Mwiraria said the public deficit would rise to 57.9 billion shillings this financial year, up from 47 billion shillings last year.

He said he hoped to narrow the budget gap by widening the tax net and selling off some state-owned companies, but warned that some projects would have to be postponed if the money did not come through.

An additional 50.7 billion shillings is expected from international donors, of which about half would be spent on poverty reduction measures.

In previous years, Kenya's supply of cash from foreign donors has been curtailed because of worries over corruption.

In Uganda, finance minister Gerald Sendaula said government spending would rise by 7.8% in the new financial year to 3,381 Ugandan shillings ($1.83bn), including a 12.5% increase in the military budget.

He added that the budget deficit would rise to 11.5% of gross domestic product, up from 11.2% last year, while economic growth would jump to 6% from 5.2%.

Mr Sendaula said he hoped to raise about 6 billion shillings through higher traffic charges and extra tobacco and alcohol duties.

Donor funding would account for about 46% of the budget, down from 48% last year.

Trade boost

In Tanzania, finance minister Basil Mramba said efforts to raise more taxes and a projected 6.3% growth rate would lift domestic revenues by 20% to 1.7 trillion Tanzanian shillings ($1.56bn).

A further 1.4 trillion shillings would come from foreign donors, accounting for roughly 41% of the total budget.

Mr Mramba pledged to maintain subsidies on fertilizer transport costs in an effort to help the economically dominant agriculture sector.

In March this year, the three east African countries took the first step towards a customs union aimed at boosting trade and increasing their combined economic clout.

The union, which is expected to take up to five years to come into effect, will have a total population of 90 million and a combined gross domestic product of about $25bn.