Africa-Press – Uganda. Government spending surged during April, rising by an unprecedented 12.8 per cent, according to the Ministry of Finance.
During the period ended April, according to the Ministry of Finance Performance of the Economy report, government spending rose to Shs2.897 trillion, which was 12.8 per cent higher than the planned Shs2.568 trillion. It is the first time such an increase has been recorded outside a period of emergency. The increase was largely attributed to higher than planned spending under non-wage recurrent expenditure and domestically financed development expenditure.
Large sums of money were released by the Ministry of Finance during the period to clear already delivered services or payment for onward services.
For instance, Shs62b was released to the Electoral Commission to pay for electoral materials while Shs115b was released to the Road Fund.
During the period, the report noted, Shs83b was transferred to Uganda Development Bank and Microfinance Support Centre.
Under development expenditure, expenses were 77.9 per cent higher than the Shs694.7b that had initially been planned for the month.
The increase in expenditure, the Ministry of Finance noted, caused a fiscal deficit of Shs1.275 trillion which was higher than Shs808b that had been projected for the month.
During the period revenue and grants were lower than targeted, amounting to Shs1.621 trillion against a target of Shs1.759 trillion.
Of the Shs1.621 trillion, Shs1.521 trillion was mobilised from domestic revenue while Shs12.09b came from grants from development partners. During the period, Shs1.521 trillion came from tax revenue collections supported by good performance from international taxes while Shs88.52b was from non-tax revenue.
Taxes from international trade fetched Shs665.28b, posting a Shs85.44b surplus largely due to more than projected collections from petroleum duty, import duty and value added tax on imports as demand for imports continued to pick up as reflected in the increased import volumes.
Similarly, indirect domestic tax collections posted a Shs1.62b surplus against a target of Shs429.58b due to value added tax collections mainly from manufactured goods and real estate activities.
