Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Government through the Finance and Economics Development Ministry is among others looking at reducing reliance on debt by increasing domestic revenue and improving the execution rate of projects as some of the ways to sustain the country’s debt. As at end of June 2019, …
Read More »Parliament committee cautions gov’t on expensive China loans
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The National Economy committee of Parliament has asked the government to scale down debt contracting to only projects that have high economic and financial returns, and target cheaper concessional loans to finance investments. According to the committee, as the country’s external debt position faces …
Read More »Finance Ministry to clear police domestic arrears
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda Police Force (UPF) will now have a sigh of relief after the Ministry of Finance took over its 125 billion Shillings debt. The debt is a result of unpaid bills for power, food, water, housing, vehicle maintenance, fuel and lubricants accumulated up to …
Read More »UMEME dragged to court over UGX 115M debt
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Electricty distributor UMEME has been dragged to court for failing to pay more than 115 million shillings to an advertising firm. In its petition before the Commercial Division of High Court, QG Saatchi and Saatchi Limited is seeking an order for the payment of …
Read More »China’s vast investment in Africa hits a snag in Congo
Paris, France | AFP | China’s investment strategy of throwing money at developing countries appears to have hit a snag in the Republic of Congo as the central African nation is seeking an IMF bailout. While the funding it provided to Congo wasn’t part of the Belt and Road Initiative …
Read More »Is Uganda’s debt sustainable?
THE LAST WORD: How Prof Hyuha Mukwanason’s response to my article fails to move beyond abstract theoretical arguments THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M MWENDA | Prof Hyuha Mukwanason wrote in Daily Monitor of April 13 a 4,214 words-long article responding to my article published in The New Vision of …
Read More »Economic costs of increasing debt
Understanding the high risk burden to the economy posed by the current debt level COMMENT | Ezra Munyabonera | Due to high borrowing costs—especially domestically—Uganda’s debt burden may reach unsustainable levels in the medium term, unless government slows down on accumulation of new debt. Since the start of implementing infrastructure …
Read More »Uganda’s big China debt
CHINA: Minister of Finance Kasaija’s secret letter to Museveni Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT TEAM | When, on October 18, 2018, Uganda signed an agreement with China for a US$212.6 million loan (Approx. Shs78 billion) for rural electrification, the issue of Uganda’s increasing debt and the unfair terms of some …
Read More »Uganda’s growing public debt
PUBLIC DEBT: Why is it growing? Is it prohibitive, unsustainable? Kampala, Uganda | ANDREW M. MWENDA | On January 10, I watched with increasing depression a debate about Uganda’s national debt on the NBS Frontline show. Although the Minister of State for Finance, David Bahati, made many good arguments …
Read More »Does the corporate debt mountain pose an avalanche risk?
Paris, France | AFP | During the years of ultra cheap money, companies loaded up on debt but now the concern is whether they will be able to handle the mountain of debt as interest rates rise. Until last year, companies basked in the sun of low interest rates while …
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