KAMPALA – The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Matia Kasaija has revealed that Uganda’s public debt has hit the Shs49.681 trillion mark.
The minister made the revelation on Thursday while presenting the 2020/2021 national budget.
Kasaija explained external debt stands at $8.59 billion accounting for 64.4% while domestic debt is at $4.74b or 35.6% of total debt stock.
In his speech, the minister said that Government has come up with a Medium Term Debt Strategy for the five year period commencing next financial year, which strategy seeks to contract only affordable external debt in preference to domestic debt.
He said, “To ensure that public debt remains sustainable, we will implement the Domestic Revenue Mobilization Strategy to increase Government’s capacity to finance programs with less reliance on domestic and external borrowing. In response to the Coronavirus crisis, Government has commenced negotiations with some creditors for debt relief. This will free resources to finance interventions in the fight against the pandemic.”
The Resource Envelope and Allocations for Financial Year 2020/21 totals Shs45.493Trn of which Domestic Resources amount to Shs25.585 trillion and of this, Domestic Financing amounts to Shs3.560 trillion while External Financing consists of project support of Shs9.515T and General Budget Support Shs2.906T.
Despite the escalating debt, the minister assured Ugandans that Uganda’s economic outlook is positive, adding that Coranavirus pandemic has helped the executive to once again demonstrate the economic capacity and the vast opportunities that our country has.
“The budget for Financial Year 2020/21 will support the economy to fully recover, harness the potential that we have, and get back to our progressive journey of double-digit GDP growth rate. The focus of the budget for the next financial year places emphasis on supporting livelihoods and the recovery of business enterprises, without losing focus on our long-term development initiatives. To this end, the Government will support the private sector to scale up production, sustain and increase employment,” said Kasaija.
