President Yoweri Museveni has attributed the current economic challenges to the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine.
While delivering his national address on Sunday, Museveni said that one of the causes of high commodity prices in Uganda is the war in Ukraine and the western sanctions on Russia, which have caused shortages in wheat for the bread eaters and in fertilizers, gas, and petrol.
According to Museveni, the situation needs planning and strategy and not emotions.
“Many Ugandans had started panicking and predicting doom, but we the NRM, whom God has enabled to handle even bigger challenges in the past, were sure that the problems will be rationally handled and resolved,” said Museveni.
Museveni said that the expensive litre of fuel is very dangerous as it is sucking money from people’s pockets and dollars from the national reserves.
However, the president claimed that Uganda is self-sufficient when it comes to food.
“This is one of the most important factors of survival,” he said.
Museveni said that the problem of high commodity prices, if not handled well, can lead to the collapse of the economy.
“If handled well, it can be an advantage to the economy. The real solution to the high prices is increased production. Produce more to deal with the shortages,” he said.
On reducing taxes, Museveni stated that the removal of taxes on all goods will be suicidal.
“The crucial items are not taxed, therefore removing taxes from many of the imports is suicidal and a blunder.
We now have $4.5 billion in the reserve. These are enough to support imports for 4.2 months,” he said.