Uganda President Yoweri Museveni has hailed the country’s improved economic performance despite the global financial crisis that is affecting many countries in the world.

Museveni who on Tuesday delivered the state of the Nation address says Uganda’s economy rebounded strongly recording a 9% growth rate in the July 2010-June 2011 period.

He gives the huge construction of houses in and around Kampala as evidence of this growth, saying Kampala city is almost joining up Entebbe town due to increased housing development.

Museveni says a 16.1% growth rate registered in October December 2010 while the annual growth rate for the past year was 5.6%. The services sector he says registered the highest growth rate.

The President says exports increased to 111 billion shillings, but imports were twice as much. He says beans, cottons and fish were the major exports for Uganda.

He says the country managed to get 3281 billion in tax revenues by end of February 2011, a more than 20% growth rate compared to the previous financial year.

Kampala city Centre

Museveni however admitted that the annual inflation increased to 14% from 11 percent, a level he says is not desirable. He however says the recent increased in food price is driven by many regional and global factors, including oil supply and drought.

The President says some of the current inflation is imported inflation because some countries where prices have risen. He says the government will mitigate inflation through the long term provision of energy and improving roads infrastructure. He says the government does not charge any tax on food, apart from imported sugar and rice, which he says is a measure to protect local industries.

He says the depreciation of the Uganda shilling is being caused by increased imports compared to export earnings, including the increased oil prices. Museveni says Uganda will sort out this problem since by the end of his five year term, Uganda will be producing its own petroleum.

He says the government is committed to ensuring stability of the forex market and commends Bank of Uganda for their occasional intervention to keep the shillings from further slumps.

Ultimate Media