Gold export earnings recover from March decline
Data from Bank of Uganda indicates that during April, gold earnings stood at $175.61m (Shs623b) up from $155.9m (Shs552b) the commodity earned in March. Photo | File
What you need to know:
- This, Bank of Uganda noted, was a recovery of 11 per cent in terms of value with total export volumes standing at 3,187 kilogrammes up from 2,857 kilogrammes in March, which represented a recovery of 10.3 per cent.
Gold export receipts recovered from a decline it suffered at the end of the 2021 first quarter.
Data from Bank of Uganda indicates that during April, gold earnings stood at $175.61m (Shs623b) up from $155.9m (Shs552b) the commodity earned in March.
This, Bank of Uganda noted, was a recovery of 11 per cent in terms of value with total export volumes standing at 3,187 kilogrammes up from 2,857 kilogrammes in March, which represented a recovery of 10.3 per cent.
United Arab Emirates remains Uganda’s biggest gold market, taking up $177.01m worth of gold exports out of the total $179.64m, which was exported during the period.
In his budget speech, incoming Planning State Minister Amos Lugolobi, said government had imposed an export levy of 5 per cent and 10 per cent on processed and unprocessed gold and other minerals, respectively as way of revenue mobilisation.
However, it remains unclear how much government will be seeking to mobilise from the levy since gold remains a highly secretive commodity.
Initially, government, through the Department of Geology at the Ministry of Energy, had been levying a 10 per cent charge on the value of exported precious stones.
Data from Bank of Uganda indicates that gold is currently Uganda’s leading export commodity, contributing at least 44 per cent of total export volumes. Gold exports have been growing rapidly in the last five years with re-exports from DR Congo taking the largest share of the commodity’s export volumes.
However, Uganda has untapped deposits estimated at 1.5 million ounces of gold in Mashonga (Bushenyi District) and Kampono (Ibanda District), according to the Gold Mining Status Report 2021 authored by the Ministry of Energy.
