BY DAVID MAFABI
KAMPALA
The Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development has said in the next financial year, the government will put priority on investment in oil and gas sector infrastructure.
Mr Matia Kasaija who was speaking during the National Budget Conference for the financial year 2023/24 held at Kololo Independence Grounds on September 13 said the government’s intention in 2023/22 is to get oil resources to accelerate Uganda’s economic transformation.
Mr Kasaija said the budget strategy for the next financial year also seeks to build on the progress achieved to date since the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020.
“The overall objective of the financial year 2023/24 budget strategy is to restore the economy to the medium-term growth path of 6-7% per annum, improve the competitiveness of the economy and sustain Uganda’s socio-economic transformation agenda,” Mr Kasaija said.
He explained that the resource envelope for the financial year 2023/2024 will not have any significant changes from the financial year 2022/2023.
“Accordingly, the preliminary resource envelope for the next financial year will be issued in the first budget call circular for the financial year 2023/2024. Government has finalised the preparation of its public investment financing strategy that guides the alignment of the different financing options to the appropriate programs and priorities,” he added.
He revealed that in rural and urban areas, the construction and rehabilitation of large, medium, and small piped schemes and sanitation facilities will be enhanced with priority to underserved areas in hard-to-reach areas.
“And staffing levels will be enhanced by recruiting 2,650 primary school teachers in the least-staffed Local Governments to improve the teacher-pupil ratio,” said Mr Kasaija.
He explained further that in 2023/2024 FY’s strategy for the education sector aims to increase the relevance of learning and knowledge building to the needs of society and the economy in particular.
He said debt services to revenue have increased to 30.6% in the financial year 2021/22 from 21.7% in the financial year 2019/2020.
He revealed that the public debt management next the financial year 2023/24 will continue to be guided by the principles set out in the Public Debt Management Framework 2018, the National Development Plan, and Uganda Vision 2040.
“To maintain debt sustainability, external financing will be obtained on largely concessional terms and near-concessional terms to finance projects that are critical for reducing the cost of doing business, “he said.
Ms Robinah Nabbanja, the Prime Minister said they are now in the process of realigning the medium-term expenditure framework from sector to program level to expand the discretion of program working groups and re-prioritization of resources.
“Under the leadership of President Museveni and the support of all stakeholders here and those that have not made it, we have been able to navigate the social-economic turbulences, and we are committed to consolidating our resilience to accelerate economic recovery,” Ms Nabbanja said. Ends.
