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Uganda’s parliament on Wednesday approved three loans amounting to over Ush5,2 trillion (US$1,38 billion) including Ush3,5 trillion (US$927,2 million) from local commercial banks to fund the supplementary budget, Ush1,23 trillion (US$325,83 million) from World Bank for smart agriculture and Ush554.7 billion ($146.9 million) from China to finance the e-government infrastructure project phase.
The latest loan requests push the country’s debt further, which by the end of August 2023 stood at over Ush88,8 trillion (US$23,5 billion).
Majority of MPs from the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) led by the Parliament Speaker Anita Among brushed off resistance put up by opposition lawmakers and passed the budget.
“The committee recommends that the proposal to borrow up to Ush554,7 billion from the Export-Import Bank of China to finance the supply, installation, commissioning and support of the National Data Transmission Backbone Infrastructure/E-Government Infrastructure Project Phase V, be approved subject to the recommendations herein,” the committee report read. In the same vein, the committee also recommended the approval of US$325 million for the climate-smart agriculture project without a hitch.
“The committee therefore recommends that the request by the government to borrow up to US$325 million and receive a grant of up to Ush1,23 trillion from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank Group to finance the Uganda Climate Smart Agricultural Transformation Project (UCSATP), be approved subject to the recommendations herein.”– The East African
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