The Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Matia Kasaija (pictured) has made a national admission that lenders within the international community are fed up of his huge appetite for loans, to the extent that some have started sending him away when he knocks on their doors for more loans.
While presenting the 2022/2023 national budget, Minister Kasaija announced that the World Bank has extended to Uganda a grant to a tune of US$217m about (Shs814.601Bn) for women entrepreneurs and urged the women to use the Grant for the growth of their enterprises, create better paying jobs and enable them to exploit the opportunities in the economy to enhance their incomes.
“…For me to be happy and believe that you have responded, you must be productive, more wealthy and create more bigger businesses both internally and externally and give me taxes so that I don’t go to borrow and be abused as an old man that what have you come [for]? Go back to Uganda! This has happened to me in one case,” Kasaija said.
The development comes at the time Uganda’s public debt is as at the end of December 2021, stood at Shs73.5Trn (equivalent to USD 20.7 Billion), of which External Debt amounted to Shs. 45.72 trillion (equivalent to US Dollars 12.9 billion) and Domestic Debt amounted to Shs27.77Trn trillion (equivalent to US Dollars 7.84 billion).
During his speech, Kasaija defended the rise in the debt stock, saying it is mainly on account of the need to support the economy and preserve the welfare of households as a result of COVID 19, and other external and domestic shocks.
