Uganda prioritises infrastructure in the sh23 trillion for first quarter expenditure

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The Government has released sh23.03 trillion to finance public expenditure during the first quarter of the Financial Year 2026/27, with infrastructure receiving the lion’s share of sh1.53 trillion for the Ministry of Works.

Addressing the media at the Ministry of Finance headquarters on Thursday, Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury Ramathan Ggoobi said the release represents 27 %  of the approved national budget of sh84.39 trillion for the 2026/2027 financial year.

The releases, he added, have been carefully programmed in line with expected revenue collections and available financing to maintain macroeconomic stability.

"The quarter one expenditure has been programmed in line with the expected cash inflows, and the timing and capacity to access external financing," Ggoobi said.

Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST) Ramathan Ggoobi during a press briefing on the 2026/2027 first quarter budget release and the launch of results of the 2025 open budget survey. (Photo by Richard Sanya)

He said government remains committed to accelerating implementation of the Agro-industrialisation, Tourism, Mineral Development and Science, Technology and Innovation (ATMS) strategy while preserving fiscal and debt sustainability.

The allocations:

A large portion of the released funds will finance statutory obligations.

sh10.83 trillion allocated for debt servicing and treasury operations.

sh2.46 trillion for salaries and wages across government

sh566.44 billion for pension and gratuity

sh355.27 billion for Parliament

sh51.12 billion for the Judiciary

sh15.2 billion for the Office of the Auditor General.

To support the government's economic transformation agenda, Ggoobi said the ministry has allocated sh289.6 billion for agro-industrialisation programmes; sh65.6 billion to tourism development; sh50 billion for oil, gas and mineral development; and sh377.9 billion for science, technology, innovation, ICT and digitisation.

Ggoobi warned Accounting Officers against over-misuse of public funds and poor budget execution.

Ggoobi said government has introduced strict fiscal and macroeconomic reforms aimed at eliminating wasteful expenditure, corruption, delayed implementation and accumulation of domestic arrears.

"This financial year, Government is implementing fiscal and macroeconomic reforms to strengthen execution discipline, accountability, efficiency and integrity of the budget. The reforms target waste, corrupt budget practices, delays and inefficiency," he said.

The director of budget ministry of finance planning and economic development Mr. Hannington Ashaba and permanent secretary and secretary to the treasury PSST Ramathan Ggoobi during a press briefing on the 2026/2027 first quarter budget release and the launch of results of the 2025 open budget survey. (Photo by Richard Sanya)

The Director of Budget, Hannington Ashaba, said accounting officers have a critical responsibility to ensure government resources are translated into services for the public, warning against delays in processing and spending the funds.

"Accounting officers must pay strict attention to the details in the expenditure limits and the budget execution circular to ensure complete compliance with our guidelines," he said.

The Director emphasised that funds released by the Treasury should not remain idle in government accounts.

"When we release money, we don't expect you to stay with it. By the 15th, you should have submitted your warrants, and within three days, that is the limit I have given my officers; they should have cleared those warrants so that we have timeliness in the release of these funds," he said.

During the briefing, the Ministry also launched the 2025 Open Budget Survey results, conducted by the International Budget Partnership in collaboration with the Uganda Debt Network and UNICEF.

Ashaba said the assessment was meant to measure Uganda's progress in providing public access to budget information and participation in the budget process.

He expressed optimism that Uganda would continue improving its performance in budget openness as a result of reforms undertaken by the Ministry of Finance.