NPA advises gov’t to suspend construction of new roads

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The National Planning Authority (NPA) wants the government to suspend the construction of new roads and direct the available resources to ongoing projects.

The NPA Executive Director, Joseph Muvawala made the recommendation while appearing before the Budget Committee of Parliament to present their opinion on the government’s charter for fiscal responsibility.

He was responding to a proposal by Maxwell Akora, the Maruzi County MP that government shouldn’t borrow money to finance recurrent expenditure.

Moses Aleper, the Chekwii County MP said that what blots the budget is the capital expenditure, which needs to be restricted given the COVID-19 situation.

The committee registered concerns that the charter of fiscal responsibility is non-committal on Uganda’s widening public debt, which stands at 52.7% above threshold.

The committee tasked the government to find new strategies of revenue mobilizing and suspend borrowing for recurrent expenditure.

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