Four months into the implementation of the Shs44.7 Trillion budget for the Financial Year 2021/2022 national budget, the government has returned to Parliament seeking approval for a further Shs3.8 Trillion in supplementary expenditure.

If approved by Parliament like it has been the case before where supplementary budget requests go unchallenged because of the numerical strength of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) legislators, the current budget will shoot to Shs48.5 Trillion.

The Government’s appetite for loans has always led to supplementary budgets because the different Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) cannot spend borrowed money without the approval of Parliament. Indeed, the current supplementary request that is being scrutinised by the Budget Committee of Parliament, will be financed by borrowing of Shs2.5 Trillion.

However, the supplementary budget request comes at a time when the Uganda Revenue Authority is struggling to meet its local revenue collection projection of Shs22.4 Trillion. 

The State Minister for Finance incharge of General Duties, Henry Musasizi told the Budget Committee on Tuesday morning that the reduction of the local revenue collection projection from Shs22.4 Trillion to Shs20.5 Trillion is due to the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic because some of the sectors of the economy remain under lockdown.

“The current lockdown has continued to negatively impact the economic activities that are still under lockdown,” the Minister told the Committee.

Education Institutions and bars are among the sectors of the economy that remain closed whereas the curfew beginning at 7pm has impacted on the rest of the night economy.

Where is the budget going?

With the MPs raising concerns over the increasing debt to GDP ratio, which now stands at 52 percent with the upcoming loans of over Shs2.5 Trillion taking it to 54 percent, State House, Office of the President and the Office of the Prime Minister have remained constant beneficiaries of such additional budgets. Highlights of the supplementary budget are listed below.

• Shs600b for Covid-19 interventions in different sectors including Health and security 
• Shs20b for Office of the President to cater for Presidential advisors 
• Shs56b to State House of which Shs50b will go to the local vaccine development 
• Shs110b for the Ministry of Finance of which Shs100b is for supporting small businesses 
• Shs45b to the Ministry of lands for completion of Albertine Regional Sustainable Development project 
• Shs48.5b to the Ministry of Education to procure learning materials for home learning for learners in P1-P4 and S5-S6.
• sHS272b to State House of which 141 will go to Kiira Motors while 104b is for classified expenditures. 
• Shs146b to the Ministry of Defence to meet operational shortfalls 
• Shs92.2b to Ministry of Agriculture of which Shs70b if for procurement of 200 tractors
• Shs71.1b to Ministry of Local Government 

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