YEAR IN REVIEW: June 2017 Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | June 8: This is traditionally the budget-reading month and Matia Kasaija, the Minister for Finance, Planning and Economic Development read a Shs29trillion National Budget. The government increased budgetary allocations to the Science and Information Technology sectors. Earlier on June 6, …
Read More »Trump signs US military defense bill worth nearly $700 bn
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald on Tuesday signed a massive defense policy bill that he said would help America bolster its military might and modernize the services. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) calls for nearly $700 billion of military spending for the coming fiscal year, but Congress …
Read More »Nigeria’s Buhari proposes record spending for 2018
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday presented a record 8.6 trillion naira ($24 billion, 20.8 billion euros) budget to the National Assembly to support the country’s economic recovery. Buhari, addressing a joint session of lawmakers in Abuja, said the spending was a 16 percent increase over …
Read More »Kenyatta signs into law Supplementary Budget, $116 million for fresh poll
Nairobi, Kenya | PSCU | Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta has signed into law the Supplementary budget that allocates ($116 million) for the October 26 fresh presidential poll and Kshs 25 billion ($242 million) for free secondary education that kicks off in January next year. The Supplementary Appropriation (No. 3) Act, 2017, also allocates Kshs 6.7 billion …
Read More »War-torn South Sudan passes budget despite lacking funds
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s parliament has passed a $300 million (250 million euro) budget despite the war-torn country’s government conceding it lacked the funds to pay for it. Nearly four years of civil war, as well as inadequate and decrepit infrastructure, have left the country with few …
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Canchungo, Guinea-Bissau | AFP | The school year is ending in the west African nation of Guinea-Bissau, but some pupils will hardly notice the difference. Long-running pay disputes have kept teachers out of the classrooms for long stretches of the last four decades in this former Portuguese colony, where a …
Read More »Civil Society groups demands budget spending efficiency
Uganda’s 2017/2018 budget: Civil Society group speaks out Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | A group of civil society organisations under their umbrella body – Civil Society Advocacy Budget Group (CSBAG) is calling on government agencies and departments responsible for budget implementation to efficiently implement the budget to benefit the common man. …
Read More »Region focuses on infrastructural devt in 2017/18 budgets
BUDGET: The EAC countries are looking at reducing the cost of doing business Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | Governments in the East African Community seem to be determined to ease the cost of doing business in the region as they allocate massive budgets to infrastructural developments in the new financial …
Read More »Rwanda budget boosts manufacturers
Rwanda Budget scraps tax on imported textile machinery, tannery equipment Kigali, Rwanda | IVAN NGOBOKA| In a bid to boost domestic manufacturing, the government of Rwanda has scrapped tax on imported textile machinery and tannery equipment. The announcement was made during the presentation of the 2017/18 Budget before Parliament on …
Read More »The politics behind the budget
BUDGET ANALYSIS: Why UDB got Shs50bn, Museveni donations Shs70bn and more Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | Matia Kasaija, Uganda’s Finance minister, is a jocular person for whom talking tough is always light hearted. It was no different on June 12 when he attended a post-budget reading breakfast meeting organised by …
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