As day 3 of the training comes to an end, members of the National Economy Committee of Parliament of Uganda have been urged to always ask for the repayment plan of Government of Uganda before approving loans so as to ease annual assessment.

I think the problem we have is that we are borrowing money yet we are not ready to use it - Isaac Etuka, Upper Madi county MP

When the Anti- homosexuality bill was passed, there were concerns from the public that Government of Uganda would not get funding but I was confident because these people are trading money - Glorious Kamayangi, Assistant Clerk to Parliament of Uganda

We tend to forget that many of these lenders want to lend to us. It is business. They are trading money. Once they know that you want a loan, they will push you down in terms of interest - Dr. Seruyange

Many countries in the Global South are at the receiving end of hard money in exchange for SDRs which may weaken their capacity for domestic resource mobilization.
Apart from loans and SDRs, Dr. Seruyange says there are extra funding mechanisms that Government of Uganda can resort to.

The one thing we have not done well is value addition. We need to commission a study to know where we can sell our exports and increase our export earnings - Dr. Seruyange.
AFRODAD UNICEF Uganda Save the Children Uganda Tumwebaze Patrick

Uganda’s export earnings dropped because of the Covid-19 pandemic and yet the import expenditure remained positive. Therefore, we needed support to cover up that gap- Dr. Seruyange.

SDRs are issued when there is a shock such as the Covid-19 pandemic or when member countries are indebted - Dr. Seruyange.

It is Day 3 of the training for MPs from Parliament of Uganda on debt and SDRs. Our facilitator of the day is Dr. John Seruyange from Makerere University School of Economics and he is taking us through SDRs.

Members of the National Economy Committee of Parliament of Uganda were advised to always look at the solvency and liquidity ratios of the country before borrowing to ensure that the new debt being acquired doesn’t push the country into a situation where debt is no-longer sustainable.

Is Uganda’s debt really sustainable? Despite the Ministry of Finance figures showing that the debt to GDP ratio is below 50%, we are seeing Government of Uganda struggling to refinance the debt.

In order to minimize cost and risk over the medium to long term, Government of Uganda can adopt different policies so as to diversify and deepen sources of financing. AFRODAD

We can talk about tax reforms, public debt management and fiscal policies but if we do not address the issue of corruption, we are wasting time - Glorious Kamayangi, Assistant Clerk

It is important that information on debt management, treasury bills and bonds is publicized. But, the technical team of Parliament of Uganda pushes important things such as these under the carpet and what isn’t important is brought out to the public- Allan Atugonza, MP Buliisa County