The Minister of Finance, Matia Kasaija has tabled two motions before Parliament seeking to borrow Shs2.436 trillion including; a World Bank loan of Shs1.217 trillion for smart agriculture and Shs1.219 trillion from Islamic Development Corporation for road construction.
During his presentation to Parliament on Tuesday, Kasaija also announced the government’s intention to borrow an additional $325 million (equivalent to Shs1.5 trillion) and receive a grant of up to $19.5 million (about Shs88.5 billion) in Standard Drawing Rights. This funding will be allocated to boost the Uganda climate-smart agricultural transformation project.
Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, in response, urged the Committee of National Economy, responsible for evaluating these financial requests, to expedite their review and submit the report promptly. He emphasized the importance of avoiding delays, noting, “This business of saying we have delayed because of benchmarking and all the other things must not happen.”
If these borrowing proposals receive approval, Uganda’s public debt will increase to more than $24 billion, equivalent to Shs108.9 trillion. This raises concerns about the country’s debt situation. Currently, Uganda owes more than $13.6 billion (Shs61.7 trillion) to external creditors, accounting for 31.3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Additionally, the domestic debt stands at over $8.4 billion (Shs38.1 trillion), representing 19.3 per cent of the GDP, according to figures provided by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).