Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja has officially opened the Budget Conference for the Financial Year 2026/27, urging ministers and accounting officers to align their sector priorities with the government’s Tenfold Growth Strategy and the National Resistance Movement (NRM) ideology.
“As we begin the planning and budgeting process for FY 2026/27, our task is to commit to lifting the 33% of Ugandans still in subsistence farming into the money economy. This will be achieved through government wealth creation programmes such as the Parish Development Model, Emyooga, Youth Venture Funds, GROW, INVITE, Agriculture Credit Facility, Uganda Development Bank, Microfinance Support Centre, and others,” Nabbanja said.
The conference, held at Speke Resort Munyonyo under the theme “Full Monetization of Uganda’s Economy through Commercial Agriculture, Industrialization, Expanding and Broadening Services, Digital Transformation and Market Access”, sets the framework for the 2026/27 national budget.
Nabbanja outlined key focus areas including agro-industrialization, tourism, mineral-based industrialization, ICT, science, innovation, and the creative arts.
She emphasized government’s target of growing Uganda’s economy from USD 61.3 billion in FY2025/26 to USD 500 billion by 2040, a goal that requires efficiency, productivity, and coordination across all ministries, departments, and agencies.
She reiterated President Museveni’s guidance to prioritize peace and security, accelerate industrialization, boost exports, support the private sector, skill the youth, enhance domestic revenue collection, and fight corruption. Nabbanja also appealed to Ugandans to seize opportunities in priority growth areas, saying:
“I call on you, without discrimination, to take advantage of the opportunities provided, as we strive to graduate to middle-income status.”
Finance Minister Matia Kasaija, in his remarks, said Uganda has already met the requirements to graduate from Least Developed Country (LDC) status to lower-middle-income and has achieved macroeconomic stability with significant investments in infrastructure.
He noted that Uganda has diversified its exports beyond the traditional “3Cs” (Coffee, Cotton, Copper) and “3Ts” (Tea, Tourism, Tobacco), while also making strides in opening regional and continental markets.
Kasaija projected the economy to grow by 7% in FY2025/26 and an average of 8% annually over the next five years, with double-digit growth expected once commercial oil production begins in 2026.
“The Budget Strategy for FY 2026/27 prioritizes investment in the first-phase accelerator actions of the Tenfold Growth Strategy, anchored on the goal of full monetization and formalization of the economy,” he said.
According to Kasaija, Uganda’s economy grew by 6.3% in FY2024/25, up from 6.1% the previous year, driven by the Parish Development Model, industrial output, services, tourism, and investments in the oil and gas sector.
He revealed that government has invested Shs 10.2 trillion in the private sector through wealth creation funds.
He added that financial infrastructure is being strengthened through digitization, customer protection, financial literacy, and efficient resolution of commercial disputes.
The FY2026/27 Budget Strategy is anchored on the following objectives:
Increasing value addition to agriculture, minerals, oil and gas, and tourism;
- Expanding investment in science, technology, and innovation;
- Sustaining investment in enablers such as transport, electricity, irrigation, industrial parks, education, health, and security;
- Enhancing revenue collection;
- Promoting regional integration and market access.
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