Govt releases sh8trillion for first quarter of 2018/19

Jul 12, 2018

The release has given priority to retirement benefits for ESO, ISO, Makerere University and classified expenditure arrears for recurrent under ESO and the Office of the President.

PIC: Keith Muhakanizi, the Secretary to the Treasury, cautioned accounting officers against making expenditures on things that were not budgeted for. (Credit: Miriam Namutebi)

ECONOMY

KAMPALA - The finance ministry has released sh8trillion out of the sh32.7trillion which Parliament approved for the 2018/19 financial year that started this month

In his communication to all the accounting officers dated July 5, 2018, the Secretary to the Treasury, Keith Muhakanizi, directed that accounting officers should prioritise payment of pension, gratuity, salaries, rent, and arrears for utilities out of the money sent to them.  

Muhakanizi clarified to the accounting officers that salary, pension and gratuity arrears will have to be paid out of the money that the ministry will release in October. 

From the money government has released, sh43b has been earmarked for the payment of pension and gratuity.  

The finance ministry cautioned accounting officers to desist from undertaking expenditures which were not budgeted for.  

 

 

A number of votes/entities continued to experience shortfalls on wage expenditure last financial year due to recruitment without a wage provision and poor estimation of wage requirements. This is unacceptable and will continue to attract sanctions for the responsible accounting officers.

 



The documents indicate that the first quarter release has given priority to providing funds to cater for the retirement benefits for ESO, ISO, Makerere University and classified expenditure arrears for recurrent under ESO and the Office of the President. 

The biggest portion of the sh8trillion, which is sh2.2trillion, has been released towards debt payment. 

Out of the total of sh32.7trillion that was approved by parliament, over sh9.6trillion was allocated towards debt repayment. 

From the total budget of sh32.7trillion, government anticipates to get sh16.4trillion from government revenue collections which are mostly taxes, and the balance will come from external and internal borrowing. 

The ministry has been allocated a total of sh426b which includes sh309b as recurrent expenditure and sh117b as development expenditure. 

Other notable allocations which could be identified quickly included sh92b to NAADS, sh403b to UNRA, sh312b to the Ministry of Education, sh149b for Parliament, and sh211b for the Uganda Police Force.

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