The Minister of Finance, Matia Kasaija, will on Tuesday launch Budget activities, which officials say, will enable the public to scrutinise the sh47.2 trillion estimates for the 2022/2023 financial year.   

 “It began (in June) 2018 as (a) budget week, then, (it) became (a) budget month, a premier activity on the Ministry of Finance calendar aimed at increasing public awareness, understanding and appreciation of the national budget,” the principal communication officer of the finance ministry, Apollo Munghinda said, adding that the budget month is expected to make Ugandan appreciate why they should pay taxes. 

 “A number of activities will be held during the budget month including corporate social responsibility with a focus on the environment (tree planting) and health (blood donation) as well media engagements on topical issues of the economy before and after budget reading. The overall objective of these activities is to increase public awareness, understanding and appreciation of the national budget. We are ready to equip Ugandans with the knowledge and information for effective monitoring of budget execution at all levels of Government,” he added. 

Minister Kasaija will launch the budget activities on Tuesday at the Uganda Media Centre (UMC). 

The East African Community (EAC) member states have agreed to read their respective national budgets on June 14. 

According to the secretary to the treasury and permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Ramathan Ggoobi, only Kenya will unveil the budget on a different date. 

“I have spent the last half of this week in Mombasa, Kenya with my counterparts in the EAC and our respective Ministers doing our 2022/23 pre-budget consultations chaired by Dr. Julius Muia, Kenya’s Secretary to the Treasury. We’ve agreed as follows: To have the 2022/22 Budget Speeches across EAC (except Kenya) on June 14th,” Ggoobi said last week. 

The theme of the budget within EAC, Ggoobi said, will be ‘accelerating economic recovery & enhancing productive sectors for improved livelihood.’ 

Ggoobi added that EAC members have also agreed: “To verify key stats on debt, fiscal deficit, inflation etc. of each partner state. To inform the regional economic policies by both the IMF Program and regional & national research institutions. To implement the several agreed upon customs and tariffs in July to improve the business environment in the region, support recovery and facilitate industrialisation and structural change. Details will be announced by our respective Ministers in their budget speeches.” 

EAC is a regional bloc comprising of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). 

Parliament is currently considering the sh47.2 trillion budget estimates for the 2022/2023 financial year.   

Parliament approved the National Budget Framework Paper on January 28, 2022, paving way for the finalisation of budget estimates for 2022/2023.   

 The Public Finance Management Act requires the Minister of Finance to present annual budget estimates by April 1 of the preceding year, and the approval of the budget before the end of May.