The Deputy Governor of Bank of Uganda, Michael Atingi-Ego has revealed that Uganda’s public debt has hit the Shs80 trillion rate.
Ego made the revelation while appearing before Parliament’s Finance Committee where he had been summoned to explain the current high inflation in the country.
He cautioned legislators against approving loans that do not spur the economy’s growth.
He revealed that the Central Bank has cautioned the Ministry of Finance to ensure that going forward, all commercial loans obtained by government have a grace period of at least five years, explaining that there are a number of loans in the pipeline whose payment dates have matured, something that has imposed pressure on Uganda’s foreign reserves.
Adam Mugume, the Executive Director of Research and Policy at the Bank of Uganda explained that the public debt contains external debt that stands at US$12.6 billion equivalent to Shs47 trillion and domestic debt stands at stands Shs33 trillion.
Enos Asiimwe, the Kabula county MP tasked the Central Bank team to explain if the Ministry of Finance consults Bank of Uganda before any loan is sought in Parliament.
