The Minister of Finance Matia Kasaija has clarified to Parliament of why there was variance in figures contained in the approved budget estimates and the budget speech he delivered for financial year 2020/21.
On Tuesday June 16, 2020, the Chairperson Budget Committee Amos Lugolobi revealed that there were variances in the budget read by Minister Kasaija.
Lugoloobi told Parliament that in Kasaija’s speech, the Budget is UGX. 673b as opposed to the Parliamentary approval of UGX. 400b which implies the new figure is 68.25% higher than what was appropriated by Parliament.
Now, Kasaija has said the change was as a result of the additional resources the Country secured from Development Partners the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support the Country during this COVID-19 time.
“I informed Parliament and the Country about these resources and also pledged to go back to Parliament with proposals on how to spend this money for appropriation,” he said.
The Finance Minister further added that, “there is no way the Ministry of Finance can usurp the powers of Parliament stipulated in the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) 2015.”
The Public Finance Management Act requires that the Finance minister presents an approved Budget to Parliament.
