Government officials and the World Bank have begun consultations on the second phase of the Uganda Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers Programme (UGIFT 2.0), following the successful completion of the first phase in December 2025.
The discussions bring together a government technical team and officials from the World Bank to review lessons from the first phase and identify priority interventions for the successor programme.
Speaking at the close of the initial consultations held at Serena Hotel Kigo, the Acting Director for Budget in the Ministry of Finance, Mr Hannington Ashaba, urged implementing agencies to carefully prioritise their proposals because the resource envelope for UGIFT 2.0 will be smaller.
Mr Ashaba’s remarks were delivered by the Acting Commissioner for Budget Policy and Evaluation, Mr John Muheirwoha.
“We must begin scoping realistic areas of intervention and move beyond broad wish lists,” Mr Ashaba said.
He added that in the coming weeks, government and the World Bank will agree on key actions to be implemented under the programme, which will later be translated into Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) that are practical, measurable and implementable.
Mr Ashaba also commended the World Bank for its continued partnership and technical support to Uganda.
He said the collaboration has been instrumental in strengthening intergovernmental fiscal systems and improving service delivery across local governments.
The World Bank team, led by Ms Barbara Magezi and Ms Verena Fritz, thanked the government delegation for what they described as frank, constructive and focused discussions during the consultations.
They noted that the views shared during the meetings would be synthesised to develop the Disbursement Linked Indicators that will guide the implementation of UGIFT 2.0.