The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development has released Shs4.833 trillion to be spent by the government of Uganda for the first quarter (July – September) of the new financial year 2023/24.
The released funds represent 16% of the discretionary budget.
Of this, Shs1.824.589 trillion (25%) goes to wages while non-wage takes Shs2.698.292 trillion. Government Development is Shs198.350 billion while arrears are Shs1.111 billion.
Shs169.968 billion has been released to cater for payment of pension for the retired civil servants and Shs147.778 billion is provided to cater for Gratuity payments in the quarter.
Under the Education sector, the capitation grants for schools have been fully provided to cater for Term Three of the school year.
Shs140.241 billion (25% of the approved annual budget) has been provided to National Medical Stores for the purchase of essential medicines and drugs; while Ushs50 billion has been provided to UNRA and MoWT to pay for certificates for the ongoing projects.
Shs91.013billion has been provided to universities in line with the semester requirements.
Of this, Makerere University takes Shs31.181 billion, Kyambogo University-Shs17.481 billion, MUBS – Shs8.678 billion, UMI – Shs3.877 billion, Mbarara University- Shs3.908 billion and Gulu University- Shs4.146 billion etc.
Shs44 billion has been provided for road maintenance under Local Governments, translating into Shs250 million per Local Government.
Shs111.687 billion has been provided to cater for arrears under institutions, of which Shs10.446 billion is for salary arrears and Shs101.240 billion is for pension and gratuity arrears.
Ramathan Ggoobi, the Finance ministry Permanent Secretary, said the Quarter One release has been informed by the need to keep expenditures within the available resources to ensure fiscal discipline, controlled borrowing and macroeconomic stability;
He tasked all Accounting Officers to ensure that they pay wages, salaries, pensions and gratuity by the 28th of every month.
“There should be a display of the payrolls for salaries and monthly pension on Government institutions’ notice boards every month. Accounting Officers must prioritize payment of service providers on time and clearance of domestic arrears,” he said