Uganda to get income status by 2018

Jan 24, 2015

THE Ugandan economy is three years away from attaining low middle-income status if the second phase of the national development plan is well implemented

By Richard Drasimaku

 

THE Ugandan economy is three years away from attaining low middle-income status if the second phase of the national development plan (NDPII) is well implemented according to projections by the National Planning Authority (NPA).

 

Silvia Angey, the NPA head of the department for governance and public sector, says the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita will hit $1,000 (sh2.8m) by 2018, rising to $1,354(sh3.8m) by 2020.

 

“This is the aim of the strategic direction of NDPII. It means that the peasant in Adumi or Pawor sub-county in Arua district should be earning between sh2.2m and sh3m per month. Once we achieve that, we jump-start the engine for further growth,” she told the New Vision.

 

Angey is leading a team of officials from NPA, the ministries of finance and local government on a countrywide tour to validate the NDPII draft, which covers the period from 2015/2016 financial year to 2019/2020 financial year.

 

The exercise commenced on January 12 and will wind up on January 23. 

 

Angey says the national budget for the coming financial year has already been tuned in line with the new strategic direction. She adds that they have enlisted the districts to align their budgets, taking into account peculiarities in their specific areas.

 

According to the draft development dossier, the national fiscal deficit will rise steadily from the current sh5.2 trillion (6.6% of the GDP), peaking at 9.7% of GDP by 2016/2017 due to the necessity of fiscal expansion through borrowing for front loading infrastructure investments.

 

However, the overall fiscal strategy of NDPII remains underpinned to the need to maintain micro-economic sta¬bility, according to Apollo Ruwonga of the Ministry of Finance. He notes that the quest to competitively posi¬tion Uganda to fully benefit from the East African Community market also remains a priority.

 

“Addressing the infrastructure deficit, while consolidating the gains in human capital development, remains the key priority of NDPII,” Ruwonga emphasised.

 

The officials said there will be massive investment in the coming years to harness the opportunities in agriculture, tourism, mineral resources and industrialisation.

 

The NDPII is a successor to NDPI which laid the foundation for Vision 2040, a 30-year development plan meant to transform the Ugandan society from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country. When this is achieved, according to the Government, the per capita income will be expected to stand at $9,500.

 

Angey noted that several achievements were registered during NDPI (2009/2010 to 2014/2015) which included absolute poverty reduction from 24.5% to 19.7% and increased electricity generation from 595MW to 825MW thereby increasing the percentage of the population with access to electricity from 10% to 14%.

 

Other achievements Angey enumerated are the increased life expectancy at birth from 51.5 years to 54.5 years, increase in the transition rate from P.7 to S.1 that rose from 47% to 73%, increase in volume of the national paved roads and increase in the per capita income from $607 (sh1.9m) to the current $788 (sh2.2m).

 

The Arua district chairman, Sam Nyakua, described the dossier as an important document that will guide how the country develops. He however called for timely implementation of government projects for a successful realisation of national development dreams.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});