Sironko West MP Nandala Mafabi has appealed to the government to reduce its appetite for borrowing money.
The government through the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development yesterday revealed plans to borrow Shs2.049 trillion from local commercial banks to fund the latest supplementary budget.
Henry Musasizi, State Minister of Finance- General Duties presented the Shs3.819 trillion supplementary budget to Parliament’s Committee on Budget.
The budget is set to finance different projects that include; Shs141b for Kiira Motors, Shs70b to procure 200 tractors under Ministry of Agriculture, Shs26.3b to settle Buganda claims, Shs67b to renovate Mandela National Stadium, Shs108b to Atiak Sugar, and Shs7.75b for Ministry of Gender to support artists by conducting E-Concerts among others.
While reacting to the statement by the Leader of Opposition in Parliament Mathias Mpuuga on issues pertaining to half-year releases for the financial year 2021/2022, Nandala said; “We should reduce our appetite for borrowing. If we don’t do this, all the collections and revenues will go to debt servicing.”
Uganda’s public debt stood at Shs66.1 trillion as of the end of April 2021.
“The proposed additional borrowing of Shs2.049Trn to facilitate supplementary expenditure will increase the public debt to GDP ratio as of June 2022 from an earlier projection of 52.7% to 54.0%. however, this projection of 54% could be lower given that some of the additional expenditure provides a stimulus to the economy and will lead to higher GDP growth,” said Musasizi.