The government has put a freeze on travel abroad, workshops and seminars for government agencies and departments in a bid to concentrate on funding the Covid-19 response in the first quarter of the Financial Year 2021/2022.
While announcing the release of Shs5.673 trillion for the first quarter of the financial year on Tuesday, 06 July 2021, Deputy Secretary to the Treasury Patrick Ocailap said the funding cuts are as a consequence of projected shortfall in revenue of Shs2 trillion and the need to respond to the COVID-19 emergency through a supplementary of Shs 600 billion.
“Budgets of MDAs have been suppressed by up to 41.2%. This includes freeze on travel abroad, workshops & seminars,” he said.
The allocations are as follows; Local Government grants – Shs578 billion, Domestic Arrears- Shs435.4 billion, Health Institutions – Shs373 billion, UNRA- Shs 250.1 billion, Uganda Road Fund- Shs74.87 billion; SAGE- Shs30.3 billion; UWEP- Shs 7.3 billion; and Emyooga- Shs50 billion.
Mr Ocailap said the release for the first quarter has catered for requirement to increase Nurses and Midwives lunch allowances (Shs32.3 billion) and operationalisation of cancer reference laboratory (Shs7.3 billion).
Under health, supplementary of Shs206 billion will cater for provision of oxygen, logistics, infrastructure which includes beds, ICUs and HDUs.
The Shs5.673 trillion represents 25% of approved budget minus external financing and public debt.
However, Mr Ocailap said the funds will only be released to votes where the accounting officers appointed have submitted their acceptance letters and their performance contracts duly countersigned.
He also said accounting officers should prioritise allocation of the expenditure limits to the critical activities that contribute significantly to the attainment of Vote outcomes without accumulating arrears. Any warrants inconsistent with this principle will be rejected.