Senior officials from the Ministry of Finance appeared before parliament’s Finance Committee to explain their intention to borrow 736 billion shillings.
Minister of Finance Matia Kasaija and his junior counterpart David Bahati informed the committee that out of this money 427 billion shillings will be used to complete UNRA projects while 48 billion shillings is meant for salaries of public servants.
However, MPs tasked the ministers to explain why there had been the recruitment of public servants in the middle of the financial year, even without following the right procedures.
Other MPs vowed not to approve the loan when it comes before parliament.
However, Bahati further explained to the committee that this borrowing had been precipitated by a 334 billion shortfall in revenue collection by the Uganda Revenue Authority.
This shortfall is expected to rise up to 659 billion by the end of the current financial year.
In the 2017/2018 financial year, URA collections were supposed to contribute 15 trillion out of the 29 trillion shillings budget.