The Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development has approved and released UGX 21.85 billion through the Ministry of Health, meant for payment of allowances and salaries of medical interns who have demonstrated over the time due to non-allowance payments.
This was revealed by Dr. Ramathan Ggoobi, the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST) for the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, during the press briefing on the second Quarter for the Financial Year 2023/24 (FY 2023/24) release, which took place on October 15, 2024, at the Ministry of Finance Conference Hall in Kampala.
Ggoobi revealed that the ministry released UGX 15.99 trillion for the 2nd quarter on October 10, 2024, with wages being UGX 1,991.21 trillion, amounting to 25.1% of the approved budget, stating that payments of salaries, allowances, gratuities, and pensions should be made by the 28th day of every month and as per the approved salary scales, including the medical interns.
“There should be no more complaints of non-payments or delayed payments anymore for the civil servants and medical interns because the money has already been released. We expect no complaints on that from any ministry or government organization,” he said.
PSST, however, strongly warned accounting officers against delayed payments of salaries and allowances to civil servants and service providers.
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“We don’t want anymore arrears, and accounting officers should be warned. The money has been released; pay all arrears and allowances in time so that quarter 2 should be started on a fresh page,” he added.
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Moses Kaggwa, the Director of Economic Affairs at the Ministry of Finance, weighed on the state of the economy, stating that it is stable with revenue inflows from exports, Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), and remittances. He added that these have attributed the capability of government-paying civil servants.
“We have diversified our exports and increased the exports of finished products in the region. There is also increased remittance from those working overseas, which has increased government revenue,” he noted.
The Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development noted that the 2nd quarter release is in line with their continued efforts of fiscal consolidation through coordinated fiscal and monetary policy and also funding the ten-fold growth strategy.
