The Minister of State for Finance, Henry Musasizi, has said that the government is set to raise UGX1.9 trillion from the recently proposed taxes on cement, fuel, land transactions, and mineral water.

This will go towards financing part of the UGX 58.340 trillion national budget for the Financial Year 2024/2025.

He made these remarks on April 3, 2024, while appearing before the parliament’s budget committee, where he had been summoned to defend the proposed UGX58.340 trillion national budget and projected external borrowing of UGX1.605 trillion in 2024/2025 to cover the revenue gap collection shortfalls.

Musasizi also revealed that, due to the skyrocketing interest rates within the global credit market, Uganda has backed out of plans to borrow Ugx1.605 trillion from external lenders.

“For example, the interest rates on dollar loans are about 10% per year, and for euros, they are between 8% and 9% annually; these aren’t affordable, and they would place a significant risk on debt sustainability,” Musasizi said.

He added that the government will not borrow externally on commercial terms for general budget financing until the global interest rates reduce to affordable levels.

The government recently proposed taxes on cement,fuel, mineral water, and land transactions, among others, to increase revenue collections towards financing the 2024/2025 budget, where the Ministry of Finance had projected external borrowing.