National Budget Month Launched

By Our Reporter

The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development; Hon. Matia Kasaija on Tuesday launched the national budget month leading to the reading of the budgetary projections of the financial year 2022/23 from the Uganda Media Center in Kampala.

The theme for this year’s budget month is “Full Monetization of the Ugandan Economy Through Commercial Agriculture, Industrialization, Expanding and Broadening services and Digital Transformation and Market Access.”

According to the Minister, the FY2022/23 budget will aim at achieving three main objectives of; ensuring peace and stability through enhanced security and macroeconomic stability, as key foundations for growth and development.

Secondly the budget will aim at mitigating the impact of the COVID19 pandemic through widespread vaccination, support to businesses, and reopening the economy to enable all sectors to function optimally.

Thirdly, the FY2022/23 budget will aim to enhance socio-economic transformation by redirecting budgetary resources towards wealth and job creation, industrialization, export promotion and other areas with high returns on investment.

Economic Prospects

Despite the economic recess occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, Hon. Matia Ksaija says the economy continues to show signs of recovery following the easing of the lock down, as at half year, and the  economic growth was at 3.8%.  He further said that the economy is projected to grow at between 3.8% to 4.5% compared to 3.4% by the end of FY 2020/2021.

The Minister further said that government has  come up with economic /business recovery programs for the FY 2022/23 and the medium term. “I therefore, call upon all of you, fellow country men and women to participate in these activities of the budget month in order to appreciate the opportunities available and the government priorities in the budget. This will strengthen the collaboration between the citizens and the government towards improved accountability for public resources and better service delivery,” he added.

The National budget speech will be delivered by the  Minister on 14^th June 2022, and thereafter the President will address the nation.

Hon. Kasaija conclusively  thanked the National Budget Month partners that include The Bank of Uganda, Uganda Revenue Authority, Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group, Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment, Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute, Public Sector Foundation Uganda and Overseas Development Institute (ODI) for working with the ministry to increase citizens’ participation in the budget process.

The 2022/23 National Budget is predicted to be in the region of Ugx47t up from the Ux44.7t of the current FY2021/22.