East Africa's economies spend their way out of crisis

* Major east African economies boost development spending

* Some analysts warn budget deficits too high

* Kenya looking to local markets for funding

By David Clarke

NAIROBI, June 11 (Reuters) - Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda all plan to boost spending on roads and energy projects in the coming financial year to stimulate their economies as the global slowdown hits traditional drivers of growth.

The global scenario has hit tourism, remittances from abroad, foreign direct investment and earnings from traditional agricultural exports such as tea and coffee in all three economies.

Kenya, the biggest economy in the region, will boost government spending by nearly a quarter to push annual growth back to 3 percent after it plummeted to 1.7 percent in 2008, Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta said in his budget on Thursday.

Kenya's economy expanded by 7.1 percent in 2007 before a combination of post-election violence, poor weather and the fallout from the financial crisis stunted growth.