The Bank of Uganda’s monetary policy committee has maintained lending rates at 9.5 percent for the month of October.

According to the BOU’s statement released on October 5, 2023, despite the recent increase in fuel pump prices, annual inflation has continued to be moderate, reflecting the implementation of appropriate monetary and fiscal policies.

Michael Atingi-Ego, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Uganda, highlighted that the inflation outlook has changed in the month of September 2023 from 2.7 percent to 2.4 percent due to the impacts of drought on food prices and global cost pressure, which reduced from 3.5 percent to 3.3 percent in August 2023.

“We could get a bumper harvest, which would push down food prices. leading to lower inflation,” said Atingi.

He stated that the downward trend in inflation is predicted to continue in the coming months due to lower imported inflation in food crop prices, and inflation is forecast to be in the range of 3 percent to 4 percent in the 4th quarter of 2024 and within 4 percent to 5 percent in 2025.

The monetary policy committee considers that the central bank’s stance will contribute to keeping inflation within its medium-term target, supporting economic stability to encourage savings and investment.