By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Opposition parties in Uganda have criticised the government’s plan to borrow the sum of $400 million from various lenders, with the bulk of it coming from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB).
A finance ministry official said the funding part of which will also be sourced from United Nations fund to finance transportation and agriculture projects, a finance ministry official said.
While opposition political parties have frowned at the rising public debt levels in recent years in the East African country, the central bank says the cost of servicing the debt is putting pressure on public revenues.
The government says the increased borrowing is needed to fund infrastructure projects that will boost economic growth.
According to State Minister for Finance, Henry Musasizi who appeared before the parliament on Wednesday, AfDB will provide $253 million, which represents the bulk of the new borrowing.
Other lenders include the U.N.’s International Fund for Agricultural Development(IFAD), the Islamic Development Bank and UniCredit Bank Austria, he added.
Musasizi did not give a timeline for when the borrowing will be done. He said much of the credit will be used to fund stalled construction works on a new toll road that forms a section of a highway connecting Uganda and neighbouring Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Some of the funds will also be used to construct new facilities in the health sector, he said.
President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power for nearly four decades has been criticised for presiding over a high debt profile.
Uganda’s total stock of public debt was $29.1 billion last year, up 18% from the previous period, according to the finance ministry
The country is set to head to general elections early next year in which Museveni, 80, has declared interest to run again, amidst allegations of clampdown on opposition figures.
