Finance Minister Henry Musasizi

NILE POST

Finance Minister Henry Musasizi has called for greater discipline in public spending and stronger accountability, saying Uganda must ensure economic growth translates into jobs, higher household incomes and wealth creation.

Musasizi said Uganda’s economy has continued to grow by more than five percent despite global economic shocks, but warned that sustained growth alone would not improve the lives of ordinary Ugandans unless it generates productive employment and raises incomes.

He made the remarks while opening the 12th Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Budget and National Economy Retreat at Speke Resort Munyonyo.

Musasizi said government’s next priority should be to increase productive employment, promote enterprise development and raise household incomes in line with the government’s Tenfold Growth Strategy.

He said the broader objective is to eliminate poverty and transform Uganda into a $500 billion economy.

However, he said achieving that ambition will require government to improve the quality of public spending and shift from measuring performance through inputs and activities to assessing measurable results.

Musasizi also called for stronger public investment management while addressing budget pressures arising from wages, debt servicing and statutory obligations.

“The emphasis should be on ensuring that every public shilling delivers value and contributes to improved public service delivery,” Musasizi said.

The minister said Uganda’s public financial management systems are largely in place, but implementation, enforcement and accountability remain major challenges.

He identified stronger internal controls and auditing, clearing government arrears, improving liquidity management, finalising procurement reforms and strengthening the management of public assets as key priorities.

Musasizi said the measures would help reduce waste, improve value for money and strengthen public service delivery.

On domestic revenue mobilisation, he said government is targeting an increase in the tax-to-GDP ratio from 13% to 20% during the current term.

He said achieving the target would require stronger domestic revenue mobilisation, firm government commitment and continued support from Parliament.

Increased domestic revenue, Musasizi said, would be critical to financing national development while reducing the country’s reliance on borrowing.

He also called for stronger cooperation between the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and Parliament, saying effective oversight requires timely, accurate and complete information.

Better coordination, he said, would strengthen parliamentary scrutiny of government policies, budgets, borrowing decisions, expenditure and financial management.

Musasizi said accounting officers will, starting this financial year, sign a Budget Discipline and Accountability Charter aimed at strengthening controls over supplementary budgets, recruitment, arrears and financial commitments.

He said strong parliamentary oversight would be necessary to ensure the commitments are implemented and public resources are managed responsibly.

The minister urged participants at the retreat to move beyond discussions and agree on concrete actions, including stronger engagement between the Ministry of Finance and Parliament, designated coordination focal points and timelines for responding to parliamentary requests.

He said Uganda’s development ambitions would depend not only on sound policies and public financial management systems but also on discipline, accountability and effective execution.

Written by newsroom-radiopacis