While giving accountability, taking stock of achievements and shortcomings of President Museveni’s first year in office, the State Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, David Bahati has revealed that government is to invest in agriculture, by providing seedlings to farmers at a cost of Shs250 billion to encourage irrigation.
“The engine of our economy is the private sector however inflation is affecting us, Uganda has remained relatively stable at 6 per cent and we hope it shall remain at a single digit. Declining commodity prices have affected Uganda’s export earnings (plus regional instability) that is why we have high interest rates”.
Bahati highlighted that the cost of domestic borrowing was at Shs900 billion he however, said that government is doing its best to bring it down closing to Shs700 billion.
‘’We are in line with what the president said on reducing the cost of power from 11cents – 7cents.upon completion of Isimba and Karuma hydro power projects, power will be a bit cheaper and that will boost industrial developments in various areas’’
Addressing the press at Uganda media Centre, David Bahati said ‘’Due to low savings in the economy, in the coming year the government is going to reduce on its domestic borrowing. “Uganda’s balance of payments is still in deficit because we are importing more than we export’’.
He said government has massively invested in infrastructural development but little has gone into local content he said however, the government is going invest Shs94 billion in Uganda Revenue Authority to buy scanners that will be used to detect fake products that tend to be imported.
He acknowledged that corruption is a cost towards business as it is a challenge in different sectors and departments of the economy.
“This vice has somehow affected Uganda’s dream of achieving the middle income status”
