Browsing: uganda’s public debt

A three-day regional conference on debt management in sub-Saharan African convened in Uganda this week is expected to conclude into signing a paper to be presented at several forums.

The forums will include the next World Bank spring meeting to highlight governments’ discomfort with some conditions tied to loans.

Uganda’s Ministry of Finance acting director for debt and cash policy management, Maris Wanyera, said the conference will be attended by delegates from 16 countries, under the theme “sustainable public debt management and a strengthened economic growth”

She also said that in light of the ongoing borrowing frenzy by African countries to finance their development agenda, the conference is long overdue.

“The idea is to come up with a strategy; a voice we can use while negotiating some of these loans. Debt [borrowing] is not bad at all, as long as we borrow for the right purposes and negotiate well, but …

The World Bank told Uganda’s government to stop giving unnecessary tax exemption because they are eroding a huge tax base that would otherwise have huge returns.

A study conducted by George Town University, presented during Economic Growth Forum in Uganda last year indicated tax incentives cost Ugandan taxpayers between about $8.9 billion and about $12.9 billion or 2 per cent of GDP annually.

The World Bank said this, has denied Uganda an opportunity to increase the country’s tax ratio to the GDP, which remains low compared to other countries in sub-Saharan Africa and East Africa.

Speaking in Kampala on Wednesday, the World Bank senior country economist, Mr Richard Walker said Uganda’s fiscal policy is constrained by low revenues and slow execution of capital spending.

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“At 12.6 per cent of GDP, it is far below government’s medium-term revenue target and compared to …