The secretary to the treasury Ramathan Ggoobi has warned government ministries and agencies to spend the limited finances that are allocated to them on only priorities because the treasury is now prioritizing reducing on the debt burden to a manageable level.
He explained that the budget cuts to the government ministries and Authorities is aimed at debt servicing through payment of interest and the principle whose maturity dates have reached, the slashing of the budget allocation is also geared towards helping the economy to recover from Covid-19 effects.
While addressing Journalist in a workshop held at Hotel Africana on March 3, 2023, Ggoobi said that in this financial year government is prioritizing funding activities that are geared towards helping to reduce on the subsistence sector through encouraging people to do economic activities that can help them earn money because it only through such policies that government can reduce on the poverty levels.
“Government is now putting its emphasis on bring on board those who were outside the money economy so as to encourage them engage in the commercial activities, enhance the agricultural sector through improved value chain and ensuring peace and security throughout the country.’’ Ggoobi said
He further said that government has changed its methods of financing its activities through sectors to program based planning and budgeting because this will help to reduce the mandate war fair that Commissions and Authorities have been fighting.
The Secretary to the treasury said, ‘’Government ministries and agencies have a silo way of doing business which are uncoordinated mandate war fighting which have been for the years dwindling service delivery.’’
“It is this syndrome that we want to remove such that we finance government activities through program based planning and budgeting.’’
For instance in the agriculture sector we move away from being production biased to value chain financing and in the planning, all sectors in the value chain must be brought to board, like in the agricultural production, MAAIF, ministry of trade, and ministry of finance must seat and plan together because of the inter-linkage.
On Parish Development model (PDM), the PSST said that the base of Uganda’s economy is in the rural areas and this explains why government is prioritizing financial inclusion and education to the rural dwellers as a means of opportunity equalizers such that they can change their attitude and get engaged in the money economy.
Ggoobi also said that the PDM is a comprehensive concept but the only challenge is that people only focus on the money aspect of it yet it has other pillars like educating the beneficiaries.
‘’There are opportunists who wanted to get the PDM funds yet they are not the targeted people and they are the ones who are complaining about the delay.’’ “ We are moving slowly but sure because we want to be sure that money goes to only those people that have been outside the money economy.’’
A total of 9,000 parishes have been cleared to receive the funds after satisfying the requirements and these will get their hundred percent funds in this financial year. Government is also still scrutinizing members of other remaining parishes to ensure that funds go to the targeted beneficiaries.
By George Bukenya