Revenue collections have increased by 48% in the last five years, according to a report from the finance ministry.

In the draft national budget for the next financial year, the projected revenue collection is shs 25.5trillion, the report says.

The finance ministry says revenues have gone up because the Ugandan economy has grown.

The finance ministry believes revenue collection will continue to grow owing to the reopening of the economy, which will broaden and deepen economic activities to reflect increased taxation and revenue collections.

Last week, the Bank of Uganda (BOU) revealed that the country’s economy started to turn the corner in 2021.

In that year, it was stronger compared to the previous year (2020) because of the gradual easing of covid-related restrictions.

“The economy is estimated to have bounced back in 2021, growing in the range of 6.5-7.0%, although it came after a 1.5% contraction in 2020 as the pandemic forced parts of the economy to shut,” Michael Atingi-Ego, the BOU Governor said.

“Indeed, the high-frequency indicators of economic activity for October 2021 to January 2022 suggest that the economy was on a strong rebound.”

The Ugandan economy has taken several knocks since the pandemic occasioned a nationwide lockdown on Monday, March 31.

At the time, the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni announced a 14-day nationwide lockdown from Wednesday, April 1, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

This meant that movement of people by private vehicles would be prohibited. In addition, a curfew from 19:00 to 06:30 was put in place from Tuesday, March 31.

All members of the public, except for individuals transporting cargo, were instructed to stay indoors.

Gatherings of more than five people were banned as a precautionary measure. Shopping malls, arcades, hardware shops and all non-food stores, except for supermarkets and pharmacies, were suspended for 14 days from April 1.

Restrictions were lifted in some sectors in 2021. However, the following year, Uganda reimposed a 42-day lockdown of the economy as coronavirus infections resurged.

This lockdown meant that inter-district movement of public transport and by private vehicles was suspended.

The Ministry of Health then updated the public on the status of the pandemic following the partial lifting of the 42 days’ lockdown, reviewing the travel restrictions and other interventions that had been undertaken to ensure that the pandemic was kept under control.

However, business activity was still limping as several cash cows were unable to be milked due to some of the restrictions still in place to curtail or control the Covid-19 virus.

As the economy fell to its knees, an end to the lockdown was finally announced and the economy was fully reopened this year, in January 2022.

This reopening of the economy swung the proverbial bar doors wide open for the gig economy to regroup after two years of having been completely shut down.

However, Atingi-Ego said the economy is likely to slow down again due to global factors which have disrupted the global economy and left it in a weaker position.

As the new Omicron Covid-19 variant spreads, countries have reimposed mobility restrictions. Rising energy prices and supply disruptions have resulted in higher and more broad-based inflation than anticipated, notably in the United States and many emerging markets and developing economies.

The ongoing retrenchment of China’s real estate sector and slower-than-expected recovery of private consumption also have limited growth prospects.

The deputy governor said the real gross domestic product (GDP) of Uganda is projected at 6% as domestic demand recovery broadens.

“Lower global growth, continued supply chain disruptions, and tighter global monetary and financing conditions could constrain external demand. In addition, the recovery might remain fragile and uneven across sectors,” he said.