CSBAG Weekly Budget News. In this edition we share with you news about a CSBAG meeting with the Ministry of Finance as well as the FY 2014/15 budget outlook for the Social Development Sector

1. in the next financial year, to ensure that
resources allocated in the budget are properly
utilized.
Regarding domestic arrears, he affirmed that
government is working on clearing up the
backlog of arrears which have accrued
overtime. He however mentioned that as
Ministry of Finance they are challenged with
the issue of inflated bills by some indiscipline
officers within government. He sighting an
example of the Mulago Hospital where it
presented a bill of over Ushs 6bn, for water and
yet investigations by Ministry of Finance
revealed that the actual bill was close to Ushs
4bn.
He stated that the installation of pre-paid
water meters is aimed at helping government
to conserve and monitor their consumption of
water so as to help government departments
and ministries plan their bill payments.
He reiterated the Permanent Secretary’s call
and urged CSO to enhance citizen’s
participation to ensure better budget
performance, transparency and accountability
CSBAG BUDGET NEWS BRIEF
52ND
EDITION |11TH
-17th
May 2014
...advocating for people centered budgets that dignifies humanity
Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Treasury receives CSBAG position on the
2014/15 Budget
He further noted that government needs to
implement tax reforms to tackle its recent revenue
shortfall. Stating that the URA short falls recorded
in this financial year erode the revenue base for
the 2014/15 financial year. With these shortfalls,
Mr. Mukunda stated with the current rate, it will be
extremely challenging for Uganda to meet the
minimum requirement for joining the EAC
Monetary Union which among other things require
a country’s Tax-to–GDP ratio to be at 25% for at
least three consecutive years.
Julius Kapwepwe, the Director of Programmes at
Uganda Debt Network, in his submission warned
government on the escalating domestic debt
which is projected at UGX1, 647.2bn in FY 2014/15.
If not controlled, Mr. Kapwepwe warned that this
could make the crowding out effect of the private
sector worse.
In his remarks, the Director Budgets, commended
CSBAG for its quick analysis of the budget
framework paper and for having involved ministry
of finance in its pre- budget dialogue which was
held in April 2014.
In his response to the CSBAG concerns a call was
made for CSBAG to enhance its support to
government in monitoring government budgets in
order to ensure value for money for all
government programmes.
He assured CSBAG that Ministry of Finance
Planning and Economic Development is tightening
measures on ensuring Budget discipline
Produced by the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG).
Vubya close, Ntinda Nawaka Stretcher Road| P.O BOX 660, Ntinda Fixed line +256 755202154 |website: www.csbag.org, Email: csag@csbag.org
The Permanent Secretary
/Secretary to the Treasury in
the ministry of finance, Keith
Muhakanizi, urged civil to
support government
adequately monitor budget
implementation...
Muhakanizi was addressing members of The Civil
Society Budget Advocacy Group during a meeting
on the National Budget Framework Paper of the
2014/15 financial year which was held at the
Ministry Of Finance headquarters in Kampala on
Friday 16th
May 2014.
The Secretary to the Treasury urged Civil Society
Organisations (CSOs) to be more vigilant on
monitoring the national budget. Accordingly, he
also underlined that Ministry of Finance is working
out a mechanism to ensure that the budget is
clean and its time framework maintained – that is,
by the end of June every year.
The meeting which was part of the CSBAG
strategies of engaging government on the Budget
for the upcoming financial year 2014/15 was
chaired by the Ministry of Finance Director
Budgets Mr. Kenneth Mugambe and also present
was the Ag. Commissioner Budget’s Mr. Laban
Mbulamuko.
The issues presented ranged from addressing
Macroeconomic issues such as; Inflation, Revenue
performance, Supplementary budget,
unemployment and job creation, high lending
rates, curbing corruption, dwindling finance to
Local Government, and to the increasing public
debt. Other sectoral issues such limited funding
for Agriculture, Salary enhancement to civil
servant, establishment of salary review
commission, decentralization of payroll system
and many others. A detailed paper can be found
on our website: CITIZENS’ PERSPECTIVES ON THE
NBFP 2014/15.
Speaking about agriculture, Julius Mukunda, the
Coordinator of the Civil Society Budget Advocacy,
mentioned that although the private sector led
growth approach is feasible in the mining,
industry, services and construction sectors, it does
not seem to work well in the agriculture sector
due to the unique attributes and connections the
sector has with the social-economic foundation of
more than 70% of Ugandans. He warned that
leaving the agriculture sector to the private sector
is putting the majority of the Ugandans at the
mercy of unscrupulous business men are majorly
profit oriented.
The Permanent Secretary /Secretary to the Treasury, Ministry of Finance Keith Muhakanizi (standing) addresses members of Civil
Society Budget Advocacy Group during a meeting at ministry of finance headquarters in Kampala on Friday.

2. Budget news that made headlines in the media
Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG)
P.O. Box 660, Ntinda| Plot 15 Vubya Close, Ntinda Nakawa Rd | Fixed Line: +256-41-286063 | Mob: +256-755-202-154
| E-mail: csbag@csbag.org |Web www.csbag.org | @CSBAGUGANDA CSBAG/Facebook.com
Law makers drop proposal to tax phones, turn to vehicles
and mobile money
A proposal for every mobile phone user in the country to pay an annual Shs5,000 tax for each handset was dropped by MPs yesterday as the
House Budget Committee proposed new taxes, including annual inspection fees for all motor vehicles and a levy on mobile money deposit
transactions. Proposals to either introduce new levies or raise current ones were justified by a need to widen the country’s tax base, the
committee noted. Read more>>>
BOU targets commercial banks over high interest rates
COMMERCIAL banks in Uganda are not heeding to Bank of Uganda’s call to reduce interest rates and lend more to the private sector. High
interest rates have put off many borrowers in Uganda. Bank of Uganda reports state that there has been only a modest increase in the stock
of private sector credit. It said the level of private sector credit at the end of December 2013 was sh8.62 trillion, which is about 8% higher
than the June 2013 levels. Read more>>>
IMF tells gov’t to invest in areas that will create jobs
The IMF has urged government to direct public expenditure on areas that support economic growth and job creation in the
coming years to tackle the unemployment and poverty problem. Uganda faces the challenge of increasing unemployment
especially among the youth. Through free Universal Primary and Secondary Education, the Government expects to eradicate
abject poverty and backwardness in society. Read more>>>
IMF asks Uganda to avoid debt crisis.
The International Monetary (IMF) has asked the Uganda government to avoid accumulation of domestic arrears and increased
domestic borrowing as these might lead to a domestic debt crisis. Uganda is currently faced with a large volume of arrears which
stand at about Shs2.2 trillion, while at the same time it has heavily borrowed from the domestic financial market to the tune of
Shs1.7 trillion using treasury bills and bonds. Read More>>>
Watch this video of Nelly Busingye of SEATINI-Uganda a CSBAG member
in a discussion about alternative Revenue generation ahead of
Budget day
.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO
FY 2014/15 BUDGET FACTS
Social Development Sector Budget
Social Development Sector Allocation by Vote Function FY 2014/15 (Ushs Billion)
Vote/Vote Function Approved
Budget-
FY
2013/14
FY
2014/15
Yr-Yr
Change
(Amount
Bn)
Change
(%)
MGLSD 35.40 43.85 8.45 24%
o/w Community Mobilization and
Empowerment
2.03 2.13 0.10 5%
o/w Mainstreaming Gender and Rights 1.70 1.95 0.25 15%
o/w Promotion of Labour Productivity and
Employment
3.93 4.23 0.30 8%
o/w Social Protection 10.04 10.34 0.30 3%
o/w Policy, Planning and support 17.70 25.20 7.50 42%
-
KCCA 1.55 1.55 - 0%
Local Govts 7.14 7.14 - 0%
o/w Community and Economic Devt 7.14 7.14 - 0%
Equal Opportunities Commission 1.75 1.75 - 0%
Total 45.84 54.29 8.45 18%
Source: NBFP 2014/15- 2018/19
Social Development Sector Budget
© The sector budget allocation is projected to
increase from Ushs 45.84 billion in FY 2013/14 to
Ushs 54.29 billion in FY 2014/15 including Donor
contribution and NTR,
©
© The increment to the sector is due to the implementation
of the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP) which has
caused changes in allocation of resources (funds) to a
number of outputs.