The Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development has released over five trillion shillings to government institutions for 4th quarter of the current financial year.
While addressing the press on Thursday, April 20, 2023, Ramathan Ggoobi, the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, said 1.6 billion has been released to cater for wages, 2.1 billion for non-wages, 1.3 billion for government development, and 24.19 billion to cover arrears.
He said the government is committed to releasing funds by the 10th of the first month of the quarter to ensure timely execution.
Ggoobi advised Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs), Parliament, and the judiciary to ensure that their needs fit within the budget constraints.
“We cannot afford to spend money we do not have,” he stated.
He appealed to accounting officers to ensure that they pay wages, salaries, pensions, service providers, and gratuities by the 28th of every month to avoid the accumulation of arrears.
On corruption, Ggoobi said it can only be fought by putting in place systems to ensure that money spent can be traced, adding that the government is fast-tracking the use of electronic procurement across the government and that the World Bank has agreed to use e-GP in projects they support.
He revealed that the ministry will fully support the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to improve infrastructure by providing the necessary resources to fix the roads.
However, he informed the MDAs that the Finance Ministry does not cut budgets but undertakes budget repurposing to deal with government priorities.
The quarter covers the months of April, May, and June for this financial year 2022–23.