Uganda’s economy expanded by 6.8% in first half of FY2022/23- Finance ministry

The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development said Monday that there has been continued improvement in economic activity since the start of FY2022/23 as shown by the recently released Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data by Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), and the high frequency indicators of economic activity.
UBOS said the economy expanded by an average of 6.8 percent in the first half quarter one and quarter two of FY2022/23, mainly driven by significant recovery in the services, agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors.
“This growth is significantly higher than the 3.7 percent registered in the first half of the previous financial year,” said the Ministry of finance, planning and economic development in the performance of the economy macroeconomic policy department monthly report March 2023 released on Monday.
However, on the other hand, the Ministry of Finance said while economic activity has continued on a recovery path from the shocks experienced over the past two years, the Composite Index of Economic Activity marginally declined by 0.1 percent from 152.5 in January to 152.3 in February 2023. This was due to weaker growth particularly in the industry sector on account of lower output from manufacturing and mining and quarrying sub sectors during the month.
Due to increased economic activities, which has been supported in part by improved weather conditions and policy actions to rejuvenate the slowdown in economic growth, the projects that for the financial year 2022/23, Uganda’s economy will grow by 5.3 percent, which ends on June 30, 2023.
Business conditions continued to improve as measured by the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) which increased to 53.2 in March 2023, from 51.2 the previous month. The improvement was mainly due to increased consumer demand, increased output by firms and stable economic conditions.
The Ministry of Finance, explained that sentiments about doing business in the country remained positive as indicated by the Business Tendency Index which improved to 54.73 in March 2023 from 52.34 the previous month.
“The business community was optimistic about the present business conditions, order volumes with suppliers, financial situation and access to credit,” the Ministry of finance said.
The Ministry Finance, further stated business Perceptions Sentiments about doing business in Uganda over the next three months remained optimistic in March 2023 as the Business Tendency Index improved to 54.73 from 52.34 registered in February 2023.
It said optimism was mainly expressed in the construction, wholesale trade, agriculture and other services sectors signaled by improvements in key indicators like present business conditions, order volumes with suppliers, financial situation and access to credit.
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