Govt unveils Shs53 trillion budget for next financial year
What you need to know:
- The State Minister for Finance in charge of General Duties, Mr Henry Musasizi, said the government plans to fund the budget with resources drawn from improved revenue collection and controlled borrowing.
- The State Minister for Finance in charge of General Duties, Mr Henry Musasizi, said the government plans to fund the budget with resources drawn from improved revenue collection and controlled borrowing.
The government has unveiled a Shs52.7 trillion budget expected to bankroll the country’s programmes and services in the next financial year.
For the current financial year, the government initially had a Shs49.9 trillion budget that was later revised to Shs51.9 trillion.
The Budget Framework Paper last laid before the House yesterday saw the Ministry of Finance officials promising to slash the government’s bloated appetite and spend in means.
The State Minister for Finance in charge of General Duties, Mr Henry Musasizi, said the government plans to fund the budget with resources drawn from improved revenue collection and controlled borrowing.
“We are looking forward to deepening the fiscal consolidation agenda through improved revenue collection; continued repurposing of the budget to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the public expenditure and controlled borrowing to reduce debt servicing cost while supporting faster economic transformation,” Mr Musasizi said.
He added that other resources will be raised through implementation of public investment financing strategy by exploring alternative and more sustainable financing methods, including climate financing and capital markets.
According to Mr Musasizi, the government’s priority areas will include investing in people of Uganda; peace and security; roads, electricity regeneration and transmission lines.
Other areas will be “prioritising money earning investments and effective management of our natural disasters. And we have done this with guidance of President [Museveni].”
Mr Musasizi also said the government was looking forward to growing the economy ten-fold in 15 years.
This will be done through tourism development, agro-industrial development, mineral based industrial development, oil and gas development, including petro-chemical industries and knowledge economy.
Speaker Anita Among asked the Ministry of Finance to table the budget framework paper early enough as the festive season approaches so that they can take off time and study it.
For scrutiny, all government ministries, departments and agencies will have to appear before their line parliamentary committees where their planned expenses will be made.
These committees will thereafter be expected to file reports to the House committee on Budget which will then make a final report that will early next year be tabled before Parliament during a plenary sitting.
During the same process, the government is also expected to table tax amendment Bills which largely processed under the House Committee of Finance before approved by the Committee of the whole House.
Tax Bills are legislations purposed to define the tax regime and or measures that government premises on to slap and collect taxes from several sectors, businesses and individuals in a given financial year.
Projections
Finance State minister Henry Musasizi said the economy is projected to grow by 6 percent by end of FY2023/24, 6.5 percent in FY2024/2025 and at least 7 percent over the medium term. There is also hope that the inflation will be relatively low as compared to the previous months.
“Over the past 12 months, the annual headline inflation slowed down from a peak of 10.7 percent in October 2022 to 2.6 percent in November 2023,” Mr Musasizi said. He added: “Inflation is expected to remain within the policy target of 5 per cent over the medium term supported by close coordination between monetary management and fiscal policy.”
