Africa-Press – Uganda. The Ugandan government spent more than it had budgeted for May to a tune of Shs514.63 billion in the ending Financial Year 2022/23, according to the ministry of finance.
This, the ministry of finance says, was partly due to higher absorption by majority of Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) as they rushed to complete all their work plans before close of the financial year ending June 30.
Going by the May 2023 economy performance report, Uganda’s expenditure in the same month was at Shs3.499 trillion, higher than the budgeted Shs2.984 trillion.
“This performance was mainly on account of higher than planned spending on non-wage recurrent items, domestically financed development projects, interest payments as well as wages and salaries during May,” the ministry of finance explained in the report.
The Matia Kasaija-led ministry further indicated that expenditure on non-wage recurrent items amounted to Shs1, 418.79 billion which is 49.1% higher than the planned Shs951.81 billion.
“This followed an increase in absorption by the majority of the MDAs in a bid to accomplish all their work plans before the close of the financial year,” the report suggests in the report released on June 19.
Analysis of the report also shows that the May expenditure on domestically financed development projects was higher than planned by Shs182.07 billion. Majority of the funds under this category went to the works sector, mainly Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) which received approximately Shs300 billion.
The report shows that expenditure on wages and salaries totaled Shs559.38 billion against a plan of Shs527.70 billion for the month.
“This followed payment of some civil servants whose wages and salaries had been pending from the previous months. Domestic interest payments continue to be higher than planned mainly because of the increase in interest rates during the financial year,” ministry of finance officials maintain.
Tax revenue shortfalls
The ministry of finance is also reporting a shortfall in projected domestic revenue collections which have fallen lower than the targeted Shs2.047 trillion in May.
During the month, domestic revenue collections by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) were Shs2.029 trillion. Of this, Shs2.029 trillion was tax revenue while Shs147.05 billion was non-tax revenue, according to official data.
The ministry of finance pointed out that the shortfall in total domestic revenue was on account of both tax revenue and non-tax revenue which were below their respective targets for the month by Shs11.64 billion and Shs6.09 billion respectively.
“The shortfall in tax revenue was mainly due to indirect taxes which were short of their target by Shs107.13 billion, thereby offsetting the Shs97.95 billion and Shs2.5 billion surpluses registered for direct taxes and taxes on international trade, respectively,” the ministry of finance explained.
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