The Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST), Dr. Ramathan Ggoobi has given assurance to prospective development partners in the United Kingdom that Uganda has a stable and well managed macroeconomy with significant growth potential over the long term.
He said the relative macroeconomic stability is anchored by a prudent monetary policy, adding that the robust foreign exchange reserves provide a strong buffer against external shocks.
The PSST made the remarks at Standard Chartered Bank headquarters in London, during an engagement with Insurers, Banks and Investors on Uganda’s economic update and the strategic priorities to build a 500 billion-dollar-economy by 2040.
“Favourable terms of trade, alongside strong portfolio flows and foreign direct investment have helped boost Uganda’s foreign exchange reserves to an all-time high,” said the PSST.
Ggoobi who was accompanied by the Director Economic Affairs, Moses Kaggwa, Director Debt and Cash Policy Maris Wanyera and the Executive Director Bank of Uganda Dr. Adam Mugume said real GDP growth is projected to rise above 7% in 2026, driven by the oil-sector developments.
He said oil production is expected to begin in the 4th quarter of 2026 and peak at 230,000 barrels per day around 2028, lifting growth to around 9%.
Ggoobi highlighted the opportunities in the various sectors including minerals which he said had confirmed commercially viable deposits of over 30 minerals. He also informed the investors about key infrastructure projects in Uganda including; the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, Malaba-Kampala standard gauge railway, Hoima Oil Refinery and the development of industrial parks among others.
Regarding public debt, the PSST said this had reached USD 32.2 billion by June,2025, but noted that this debt is sustainable and a prudent medium term debt management strategy is in place to minimise the share of interest payments to domestic revenue and ultimately reduce the debt service burden on the budget.
Ggoobi said the key measures to manage debt include the implementation of the domestic revenue mobilisation strategy and policy actions to leverage concessional financing which he said is now available for Uganda.
The Chief Executive Officer Standard Chartered Bank Uganda, Sanjay Rughani said this was a great opportunity for Uganda to strengthen dialogue with the United Kingdom investors, adding that the Bank is fully committed to supporting Uganda’s tenfold growth agenda.
The Uganda government officials also had a global research engagement with the Banks’ Chief Economist for Africa and the Middle East, Razia Khan on the crisis in the Middle East and Uganda’s preparedness to address the shocks of this crisis, which is already affecting many countries in various ways.
Dr. Ggoobi said Uganda is responding to the crisis by investing in growth and resilience, not panic actions such as tax cuts, subsidies and open social protection policies.
He said this crisis is an opportunity for Uganda to position itself as a key player in the decarbonisation agenda, renewable energy investment and growing of more food, adding that this crisis could be an opportunity for reallocating investments such as oil and gas in Africa.
The Uganda team also had a deep dive with Standard Chartered Bank officials in areas of export credit agency financing, private credit opportunities, metals and the mining sector.
