Uganda’s economy in 32days at risk – Economists

By Our reporter

20^th March 2020

Economists want Government to devise means of protecting the economy from crumbling as a result of the temporary shutdown of key businesses because of the corona virus.

Makerere University Business School-MUBS Economics Lecturer and Policy Analyst, Ramathan Ggoobi says the Coronavirus (COVID-19), which has since been declared a pandemic is economically contagious and has attacked all sectors of the economy at all fronts.

It follows the drastic measures announced by President, Yoweri Museveni on Wednesday this week to contain the corona virus threat. The measures include among others the closure of all educational institutions nationwide, a ban on public gatherings including congregational prayers, sports, seminars, parties, funerals and bars.

The lock-down according to Ggoobi is a disaster and is likely to cripple the flow of currency in a simple economy. He argues that Uganda is currently facing a reduction in the supply of first moving goods due to over reliance on China, India and Kenya, where 60 per cent of all goods consumed in the country come from.

Ggoobi says the money spent in bars leads to increased consumption of fuel, food and provides survival means for many Ugandans who operate them creating a ripple effect on the entire supply chain which is currently on halt and this will in turn increase inflation.

He has proposes for reduction of taxes on services such as internet and mobile money to increase capacity to maintain businesses, need to access credit by Small Scale Enterprises (SMEs) by government sharing risks and Uganda Revenue Authority and National Social Security Fund- NSSF to reduce their tax expectations at least in this last quarter.