NRM legislators to meet over 2025/26 budget priorities

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National Resistance Movement (NRM) party legislators are scheduled to meet again on March 7, 2025, to discuss the 2025/26 financial year budget priorities.

According to Government Chief Whip in Parliament Denis Hamson Obua, the caucus meeting will start at noon at State House Entebbe.

Obua informed the MPs that the purpose of the meeting is to discuss the 2025/26 budget.

Sources that attended last week’s caucus meeting told New Vision Online that the budget priorities were presented to the members by finance minister Matia Kasaija, but there was no debate on the matter due to time.

Sources told New Vision Online that during last week’s presentation, Kasaija warned of a highly constrained fiscal space saying financing of new proposals through additional borrowing is unsustainable.

Fiscal space is the amount of money a government has available to spend without jeopardising its financial health.

Kasaija reportedly said any new proposals as the budget estimates get into the presentation of policy statement stage can only be financed through undertaking a tradeoff among priorities.

“I wish to implore you colleagues that the fiscal space is highly constrained on account of increasing debt and interest payments. Financing of new proposals through additional borrowing will not be sustainable,” Kasaija said.

Kasaija’s statement reportedly came after several MPs raised concern over what they called unfunded activities in the budget.

Kasaija reportedly also wanted to brief members on the economic growth strategy and priority areas of the budget for 2025/26 financial, financing of the 2025/26 budget and the next steps towards finalization of the budget.

“During the meeting, some MPs complained that a number of activities had not been funded,” a source that attended the closed-door meeting told New Vision.