The government has commenced the process of approving the budget for the financial year 2024/2025 by presenting the National Budget Framework Paper (BFP), totaling Shs52.7 trillion.
The BFP, along with accompanying certificates such as the Certificate of Gender and Equity Compliance and Climate Change Responsiveness, was presented by the Minister of State for Finance, Planning, and Economic Development (General duties), Hon. Henry Musasizi, during the Plenary sitting on Wednesday, December 12, 2023.
Musasizi outlined that key focus areas for 2024/2025 include investments in people, infrastructure, peace and security, electricity generation and transmission lines, and efficient management of natural disasters.
“The budget theme for the financial year 2024/2025 remains consistent with the previous year, emphasizing the full monetization of Uganda’s economy through commercial agriculture, industrialization, expanding and diversifying services, digital transformation, and market access,” he stated.
He further mentioned that the Shs52.7 trillion budget would be funded through enhanced revenue collection and prudent borrowing to minimize debt servicing costs while supporting rapid socio-economic transformation, among other objectives.
Musasizi also highlighted that the implementation of public financing, including Public Private Partnerships, would be employed as a strategy to fund the 2024/2025 budget.
Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Mathias Mpuuga, raised concerns about the legality of the Certificate of Climate Change Responsiveness, questioning its validity in the absence of regulations for the Climate Change Act, 2021.
“I am uncertain if we are proceeding appropriately to issue a certificate from a law that lacks regulations since its enactment. I question where the Minister derives the audacity to present a certificate from a law that is void,” Mpuuga remarked.
He also noted that the Minister should have presented the Charter of Fiscal Responsibility to account for changes made in the 2024/2025 budget.
“The minister has been detailed about their proposed changes, but he has not addressed matters derived from the Charter of Fiscal Responsibility. The Minister is unclear about whether they intend to make alterations to the Charter of Fiscal Responsibility, and if so, it should have been presented along with the BFP,” Mpuuga asserted.
Musasizi clarified that the Charter of Fiscal Responsibility has a five-year validity, approved in 2021, covering the next financial year. Any modifications, he added, would be processed through the relevant sectoral committees.
Speaker Anita Among referred the BFP to the Budget Committee for review and to various sectoral committees, instructing them to focus on the segments of the BFP falling within their jurisdictions.
“The review of the BFP typically aligns with the festive season. Therefore, the Chairpersons of various committees should mobilize effectively to ensure this task is completed as early as possible,” she emphasized.
As per the Public Finance Management Act, the government is required to present the budget framework paper before Parliament by December 31, 2022, and the House should have approved it by February 1, 2023.
