IMF’s Lagarde to visit Uganda next week
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Ms Christine Lagarde
What you need to know:
- The IMF and Ministry of Finance are expected to issue more details this week about Ms Lagarde’s visit.
- The last time such a high level official from the IMF visited Uganda was in 2007 when Mr Takatoshi Kato, the then Deputy Managing Director came into the country.
Kampala – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Ms Christine Lagarde is expected to visit Uganda next week for three days to hold talks with government official and address a public lecture.
According to Ms Clara Mira, IMF Uganda Country Representative, Ms Lagarde will be in the country from January 25 to 27.
The IMF is yet to release full details of her visit. Last week on Friday, a meeting held at the IMF global headquarters in Washington DC confirmed the visits to several African countries including Uganda.
“Following Davos Christine Lagarde will indeed be going to Africa, The Central African Republic, Uganda, Mauritius, several countries, to meet with authorities and participate in a number of public events, which will be made available to you. You will have access to those, and we will be giving you some detail on that,” said Gerry Rice, Director, Communications Department, IMF said last week at a briefing.
The Daily Monitor can confirm that there will be meetings with President Museveni and officials from the ministry of finance.
On January 27, 2017, she will deliver a public lecture at the Kampala Serena Hotel Conference Centre. The meetings will emphasize the broader macro-economy of Uganda and also address matters like debt and investment among others.
The IMF and Ministry of Finance are expected to issue more details this week about Ms Lagarde’s visit. The visit comes at a time Uganda’s economy is trying to recover from lower than anticipated growth in 2015/16.
Lagarde is the 11th managing director of the IMF. She is also the first woman to hold the position after being selected by the IMF Executive Board in July 2011. She got her second five-year term in July 2016.
The last time such a high level official from the IMF visited Uganda was in 2007 when Mr Takatoshi Kato, the then Deputy Managing Director came into the country. His main focus was to emphasize sustaining sound macroeconomic conditions and of keeping much focus on private sector-led development and on the need for countries to pay special attention to investment financing.
Uganda joined the IMF on September 22, 1963 but the relationship will be remembered for the Structural Adjustment Policies of the 1990’s that led to the liberalization of the economy and privatization of government entities. Uganda also benefited from a $2bn debt relief in 1999 under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative by the IMF and World Bank.
