GOVERNMENT REVISES 2023/2024 BUDGET

By Our Reporter

KAMPALA: The government has revised the 2023–2024 financial year budget to 52 trillion shillings from 51 trillion shillings.

This was contained in the corrigenda to the budget for Financial Year 2023/2024 that was laid by the Minister of State for Finance, Planning, and Economic Development (General Duties), Hon. Henry Musasizi, during the plenary on Wednesday.

Corrigenda provide details of the correction of errors and omissions under the draft budget estimates for 2023–2024 that were tabled by the Minister of Finance on March 30, 2023.

The corrections are a result of requests by accounting officers in line with Regulation 12 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).

“The regulation states that an accounting officer of the vote may at any time, before Parliament considers the estimates of the vote, make a correction of an error or omission made in the estimates submitted by the accounting officer in Parliament,” Musasizi said.

According to the revised estimates, items that require an increase in resources include external financing, treasury operations, non-tax revenue, and local revenue.

The estimates indicate that the government has provided Shs254 billion to treasury operations towards reducing the government’s liability with the Central Bank.

Similarly, after review of the external financing profile, the draft allocations to projects have been adjusted to Shs8 billion from Shs7.4 billion.

The Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Antiquities has received an additional Shs33.3 billion as excess non-tax revenue collected in the 2021–2022 financial year.

These funds are expected to cater for the construction of staff accommodations, equipment for surveillance, electric fence maintenance, and rhino translocation to various national parks.

Speaker Anita Among referred the corrigenda to the Budget Committee for scrutiny and called on lawmakers to actively participate in the budgeting process.

“The budget process is important to you; this is when you know how much goes to your district, and you need to be in this House when they are doing appropriation, which is one of your core roles. We are going to supply on Tuesday, and please be here,” said Among.

Kira Municipality Member of Parliament, Hon. Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, however, faulted the ministry over the delayed presentation of the corrigenda.

“It has become a practice for the government to present documents relating to the budget at the last minute. When you [the speaker] announce that on Tuesday we will supply, they [ministers] come running with the corrigenda, making it very difficult for the Committee on Budget to scrutinize because of the times involved,” he said.

Section 14 of the PFMA requires Parliament to consider and approve the annual budget and work plan of the government for the next financial year by the 31st day of May.

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