Uganda’s public debt will soon hit the Shs40 trillion mark as government continues to borrow heavily to mainly fund infrastructural projects.
On Tuesday, Parliament approved borrowing of US $14.4 million (Shs52.5bn) from the Africa Development Bank Group (ADB) to support multinational Lake Victoria Maritime Communications and Transport Project.
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Parliament also authorized government to borrow up US$38,349,313.28 (Shs139.8bn) from the Africa Development Bank (ADB) and US$ 56,129,597.12 (Shs204.7bn) from the African Development Fund (ADF) to support the upgrading of the Kapchorwa-Suam-Kitale road project.
Similarly, Parliament authorised government to borrow euros 270,266,042.15 (Shs1.16trillion) from the UK Export Finance (UKEF) and euros 37,110,585.9 (Shs160.3bn) from Standard Chartered Bank (London) for the construction of phase 1 of the new Kabaale International Airport in Hoima district.
In total, Parliament approved borrowing of over Shs2 trillion.
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It is worth noting that Uganda’s public debt increased to Shs34trillion according to the ‘State of the Economy June 2017’ report released by the Bank of Uganda in August 2017. This means Uganda’s public debt is now over Shs36trillion (excluding months the report didn’t consider-about five).
“The provisional total public debt stock (at nominal value) as at end May 2017 stood at Shs34.0 trillion, an increase of 14.1 per cent relative to June 2016 and 16.7 per cent in the same period a year ago. It comprised Shs21.1 trillion (USD 5.7 billion) in external debt, commanding a dominant share of 62.4 per cent of the total public debt, and Shs12.7 trillion in domestic debt,” the report read in part.
