Africa-Press – Uganda. The rise in volume of maize, tobacco and gold, among other commodities boosted Uganda’s earnings from commodity exports over the last 12 months between February 2022 and February 2023.
The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development said on April 17 that in comparison with February 2022, Uganda’s merchandise exports grew by 6.3 percent from $328.74 million to $349.44 million in February 2023.
The Ministry of Finance said in the performance of the economic macroeconomic policy department monthly report of March 2023 that this growth was due to increased earnings from items, including maize, tobacco and gold.
The ministry added that EAC remained the top destination of Uganda’s exports in February 2023, accounting for 54.4 percent of the total exports for the month. This was followed by the European Union at 15.4 percent and Asia at 11.3 percent.
The Finance ministry, however, said in February 2023, Uganda exported merchandise worth $349.44 million.
“This was a 13.6 percent decline when compared to $404.46 million exported during January 2023. This decline was mainly on account of lower export earnings from base metals and products, maize, beans and coffee registered during the month,” said the Ministry of Finance.
Giving a breakdown on how other commodities have performed during the month, it said coffee exports amounted to $66.03 million, a 1.97 percent decline from the $67.35 million in January 2023. “However, exports of some items such as gold, fish, tea, and cotton increased during the month,” it said.
In regard to Trade Balance by Region, Similar to January 2023, Uganda traded at a deficit with all the regional blocks save for the EAC during the month of February 2023.
Asia registered the largest deficit of $243.23 million, followed by the Middle East ($102.5 million) and Europe ($20.22 million) during the same month.
Compared with the same month last year, merchandise imports grew by 2.0 percent from $629.66 million in February 2022, to $642.43 million in February 2023 mainly driven by increased import volumes for petroleum products, machinery, equipment and vehicles, among others.
On a monthly basis, the Ministry of Finance said the value of merchandise imports increased by 1.0 percent to $642.43 million in February 2023 from $636.26 million the previous month.
This growth was mainly on account of higher value and volume of oil related imports by the private sector .
Other private sector imports with notable increase include mineral products (excluding petroleum products), machinery, vehicles and accessories, as well as vegetable products.
Asia remained Uganda’s largest source of imports accounting for 44.0 percent of total imports.
China accounted for $134.05 million or 47.4 percent of total imports from this region. Other notable regions included the Middle East, accounting for 19.3 percent, the EAC at 13.6 percent and the European Union at 11.2 percent.
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