“I Am Tired, I Will Not Borrow To Mortgage Uganda” Finance Minister Matia Kasaija Reveals

Uganda’s Finance Minister, Matia Kasajja, has now remained resolute in his stance against borrowing to finance the country’s needs.

Despite the pressure from Cabinet and even the President himself, Kasajja refuses to yield, emphasizing that Uganda cannot afford to mortgage its future through endless borrowing. He highlights the frequent demands for supplementary budgets, a challenge he faces every Monday during Cabinet meetings.

“Almost every Monday when Cabinet sits there are always new demands for supplementary budget. Now, I have learnt to politely keep quiet. Even when the President says Kasaija find money for this … I say yes, but I don’t do anything because there is no money and I will not borrow indefinitely”- Finance minister Said

Speaking at a pre-budget dialogue for the 2024/25 financial year organised by Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group at the weekend, Mr Kasaija said as long as “I am your Finance minister, I cannot borrow indefinitely to mortgage your country”, noting that there are many demands but it was not a matter of life and death.

The statement means that Finance Minister Matia Kasajja is expressing a commitment not to use borrowing as a means to put Uganda’s assets or resources at risk through mortgage agreements. He’s indicating a stance against leveraging the country’s future earnings or assets as collateral for loans.

Meanwhile, Last year Minister Matia Kasaija expressed his frustration with the the habit of government borrowing funds to finance its budget.Kasaija said at the launch of the Public Investment Financing Strategy (PIFS) at Sheraton Hotel that government should look for alternatives and stop borrowing.

“I am tired of borrowing…We must look for other ways how we can raise funds to develop Uganda other than borrowing,” he said.

Kasaija said PIFS will help government raise funds since borrowing and grants are not sufficient enough to fund government programmes.The minister of finance noted that Uganda has an annual financing gap of about 33 trillion shillings, given approximately 49 trillion that is budgeted for annually.

According to Kasaija about 411 trillion is needed to finance all government programmes. At the end of 2022, Uganda had a debt of about 80 trillion. This was revealed by the Deputy Governor Bank of Uganda, Michael Atingi-Ego.