Ramathan Ggoobi, the PSST at today’s press conference
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Government, through the ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, has released Shs 17.18 trillion for Quarter One (July – September 2025) of the current financial year.
While announcing the expenditure limits earlier today at the finance ministry’s headquarters, Ramathan Ggoobi, the permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST), said that the released amount only represents 23.7% of the approved budget for the financial year 2025/26.
He said the bulk of the release, which amounts to Shs 2.261 trillion, will go towards catering for wages and salaries across Government.
He added that Shs 482.76 billion is for Pension and Gratuity, while Shs 249.38 billion is for Parliament.
“Since this is an election year, we have released up to Shs 468.72 billion this quarter to go towards the Electoral Commission, whose financial needs towards organising a credible election will continue to be met in the subsequent two quarters,” he said.
He added that Shs 47.37 billion is for the Judiciary, Shs 19.14 billion is for the Auditor General’s Office and Shs 53.72 billion is for the National Planning Authority.
Ggoobi said during this Q1 and the subsequent quarters, the Government will prioritise the ATMS, which will drive tenfold growth strategy aimed at driving Uganda’s economy into upper middle income status.
The Uganda Government’s 10-fold growth strategy, also known as the ATMS strategy, focuses on expanding the country’s economy from $50 billion to $500 billion by 2040.
The strategy is centered around four key sectors: Agro-industrialization, Tourism, Mineral development, and Science, Technology, and Innovation (ATMS).
A cross section of officials who attended the press conference
This ambitious plan aims to double Uganda’s GDP every five years and increase per capita income from $1,039 to $7,000 by 2040.
Ggoobi said that for Agro-industrialization, Government has allocated Shs 215.28 billion.
“Of this, Shs 62.41 billion is for research and operations of institutions within the programme while Shs 152.86 billion is for development projects. For tourism development (T) we have allocated Shs 20.5 billion, which has been released to Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities and Uganda Tourism Board,” he said.
He added that these funds are for financing tourism sector development interventions like branding and marketing, promoting and enforcing hospitality standards among others.
“This release excludes funds for Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) that retains funds at source.
When it comes to Mineral-Based Industrial Development including oil and gas (M), Government has allocated Shs 26 billion of which Shs 19.5 billion is under the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development and, Shs 6.5 billion under Petroleum Authority of Uganda.
“This does not include funds for Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) which retains funds at source,” says the PSST.
He added that for Science, Technology and Innovation including ICT and creatives industry, Shs 139.13 billion has been allocated for development interventions under Science, Technology and innovation, Ministry of ICT and National Guidance and National Information Technologies Authority of Uganda (NITA-U).
“Of this, Shs 33 billion is for Artists under Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development and Shs 83.3 billion under Science, Technology and Innovation,” he noted.
When it comes to enablers of the ATMS, which include security, he said Government has put aside Shs 719.12 billion for the Ministry of Defense and Veteran Affairs, Shs 130.73 billion for the Uganda Police Force, Shs 108.38 billion for State House and Shs 87.15 billion for the Uganda Prisons Service.
Additionally, Shs 111.4 billion has been allocated to the Office of the President, Shs 39.2 billion for the Internal Security Orgaisation (ISO) and Shs 86.9 billion for the External Security Organisation (ESO).
Government also made a huge allocation for Infrastructure during this Q1. Shs 1.076 trillion has been released Ministry of Works and Transport.
“Of this, Shs 942.90 billion is for the payment of contractors for on-going works projects, and Shs 420.76 billion is for the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. Shs 398.75 billion is to implement rural electrification projects, finance development of other transmission lines and power generation projects like Karuma and, funding to support activities for mineral development,” said Ggoobi.
Government also advanced Shs 148.32 billion to the Kampala Capital City Authority –for implementation of development projects within the city like roads, and drainage among others.
On the part of Human Capital Development, the Government released Shs 143.75 billion for Ministry of Education and Sports, Shs 80.42 billion is to cater for the non-wage recurrent activities and Shs 63.33 billion for the implementation of the Uganda Secondary Education Expansion project (USEEP) and Uganda Learning Acceleration Project (ULEARN).
Public universities earn big
The Government has extended up to Shs 157.73 billion for all Public Universities, Uganda Management Institute and Law Development Centre in line with their requirements. Of this, Shs 16.49 billion is allocated to their capital development projects
“In addition to that, Shs 262.88 billion has been released for the Ministry of Health. Of this, Shs 238.74 billion is for development purposes namely support planned health infrastructure development and implementation Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), Global Fund and Karamoja Infrastructure Development projects, and other outstanding contractual obligations,” said Ggoobi.
He added that Shs 173.96 billion has been released to National Medical Stores (NMS) for the purchase of essential drugs and medicines, while Shs 118.23 billion is for the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.
“Of this, Shs 83.64 billion is to cater for the operational budget as well as subventions under the Ministry including the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) requirements,” he said.
The PSST added that Shs 80.18 billion has also been released under Uganda Cancer Institute and Uganda Heart Institute.
“Of this, Shs 55.10 billion for contractual obligations and Shs 25.08 billion for their operations. The Regional Referral hospitals including Mulago and Butabika Hospitals have been allocated Shs 40.99 billion, of which Shs 40 billion is for the non-wage recurrent budget,” he further noted.
For the Local Governments, Government has released Shs 382.03 billion. Of this, Shs 342.52 billion is for their operations and Shs 39.50 billion is to cater for projects with contractual obligations.
Government has also invested massively in Revenue Generating Votes during this quarter.
It released Shs 114.90 billion under Uganda Revenue Authority to facilitate revenue collection, and Shs 9.71 billion for Uganda Registration Services Bureau.
Additionally, Shs 40.43 billion has been allocated to National Citizenship and Immigration Control and Shs 26.44 billion for Uganda National Bureau of Standards.
In a nutshell, Ggoobi announced that the budget for this financial year is designed to support the implementation of the Ten-Fold Growth Strategy.
“Emphasis is towards the ATMS and the enablers. As government, our main objective is to promote technical efficiency by ensuring that all Ministries, Department, Agencies and Local Governments deliver better services to Ugandans at the lowest cost,” he concluded.
