Govt moves to strengthen Uganda’s credit rating
Uganda moves to strengthen credit rating amid global economic uncertainty
A view of the Bank of Uganda in Kampala. The country’s credit rating is a marker of how likely it is to pay back debts. (File)
_________________
The Ugandan government has moved to strengthen the country’s credit rating as central banks battle inflation fuelled by Middle East conflict.
On Tuesday (October 13), top government officials met the teams from the Global Sovereign Advisory and Moody’s Ratings in Bangkok, Thailand to discuss ways of strengthening Uganda’s credit rating.
This was on the sidelines of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok.
Uganda’s delegation, which is led by finance minister Henry Musasizi, separately met the Global Sovereign Advisory team led by Anne-Laure Kiechel and Moody’s Ratings team led by Aurelien Mali, the vice president Sovereign Risk Group to discuss ways of strengthening Uganda’s credit rating, the ministry of finance said in a statement.
The country’s credit rating is a marker of how likely it is to pay back debts - from “stable” to “negative”.
In August this year, Fitch, an American credit rating agency, affirmed Uganda’s Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings at ‘B’ with a stable outlook.
The finance ministry statement said the meeting focused on local currency markets, private credit, geopolitical trends and innovative financing to optimise Uganda’s debt portfolio.
The Governor of Bank of Uganda, Michael Atingi-Ego, briefed Moody’s Rating team on the measures taken by the central bank to control inflation and stabilise the depreciating shilling, including tightening liquidity amidst the prevailing global financial conditions.
“Moody’s should appreciate that Uganda is pursuing the right economic policy amidst the difficult global financial conditions,” said the Governor.
Ggoobi highlighted the budget discipline and accountability charter to ensure discipline in budgeting and accountability, measures to strengthen project implementation and tight tax policy with no reliefs, adding that Uganda has no room for subsidies and unnecessary supplementary budgets.
In the course of the day, the Ugandan delegation also met the team from Citi Bank led by Valentina Antill, managing director and Global Head of Cross Border and Public Sector Solutions, to discuss the financing for the standard gauge railway and green bonds among other key priorities and opportunities to harness.
Musasizi also met the partners for the Coalition of Finance Ministers on Climate Change for an update on support for the co-chairmanship ahead of the Coalition meeting of Finance Minister’s on Climate Change today (Wednesday).
The Ugandan delegation also had a virtual meeting with the Uganda World Bank Country team in preparation for the meeting with the World Bank Vice-President, Africa Region this Thursday.
They also took part in a number of meetings, including the Africa Group one Constituency panel meeting, where Uganda is one of the 22 sub-Saharan Africa member countries.
Discussions focused on mobilising financial and technical resources, International Development Association operations expanding concessional financing, private sector investment and capacity development, the statement said.