According to a statement made on Monday by the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, high frequency indicators of economic activity and the recently released Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) both demonstrate that the economy has been improving steadily since the beginning of FY2022/23.
According to UBOS, the services, agricultural, forestry, and fisheries sectors all had strong recovery throughout the first part of quarter one and quarter two of FY2022/23, driving the economy’s average 6.8 percent growth during those periods.
“This growth is significantly higher than the 3.7 percent registered in the first half of the previous financial year,” said the Ministry of finance, planning and economic development in the performance of the economy macroeconomic policy department monthly report March 2023 released on Monday.
The Composite Index of Economic Activity, however, only slightly decreased by 0.1 percent from 152.5 in January to 152.3 in February 2023, according to the Ministry of Finance, despite the fact that economic activity has continued on a road of recovery from the shocks suffered over the past two years.
Due to lower output from the manufacturing, mining, and quarrying subsectors during the month, there was slower growth overall, especially in the industry sector.
The forecast predicts that Uganda’s economy would expand by 5.3 percent in the fiscal year 2022–2023, which ends on June 30, due to increasing economic activity, which has been aided in part by better weather and policy measures to revive the downturn in economic growth.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), which rose to 53.2 in March 2023 from 51.2 the previous month, indicates that business conditions have been improving.
Greater consumer demand, greater company output, and stable economic conditions were the key drivers of the improvement.
The Business Tendency Index, which increased to 54.73 in March 2023 from 52.34 the previous month, showed that business confidence in the nation remained positive, according to the Ministry of Finance.
“The business community was optimistic about the present business conditions, order volumes with suppliers, financial situation and access to credit,” the Ministry of finance said.
The Ministry of Finance added that the Business Tendency Index increased to 54.73 from the 52.34 recorded in February 2023, indicating that business perceptions and sentiments about conducting business in Uganda over the following three months remained positive.
According to the report, optimism was mostly seen in the construction, wholesale commerce, agricultural, and other service sectors, as evidenced by gains in important metrics including current business conditions, order volumes with suppliers, financial situation, and credit availability.