By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Ugandan Parliament have approved the Presidency’s request to borrow $464 million from Standard Chartered Bank and other international lenders, to finance development of infrastructure.
“The House has approved a request to borrow to $464.13 million from Standard Chartered Bank and other finance institutions,” parliament said in a Tweet on Thursday.
The money was a syndicated loan put together by Standard Chartered and two Middle East lenders, Abu Dhabi Fund for Economic Development and the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIIE).
The borrowing is likely to raise fresh worries about Uganda’s ability to repay its rapidly expanding debt. As a percentage of gross domestic product, its public debt is now just shy of 50%, according to finance ministry data.
The finance ministry has previously said it accepted the credit offer from Standard Chartered and its partners because it was better than bids from competitor lenders or borrowing from the local debt market.
Uganda’s total public debt ballooned to $21 billion at the end of December last year from about $18 billion in the previous period, according to finance ministry data.
