emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile : uganda ’ s new credit reference bureau speech by mr emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile, governor of the bank of uganda, at the launch of the credit reference bureau, bank of uganda, kampala, 3 december 2008. * * * h. e. mr. reinhard buchholz the ambassador of the federal republic of germany, h. e. mr. anders johnson the ambassador of sweden, h. e. mr. thanduyise chilliza the high commissioner of the republic of south african, members of the committee on national economy, parliament of uganda, members of the board of directors, bank of uganda, the chief executive officers of commercial banks, credit institutions and microfinance deposit - taking institutions, managing director compuscan information technologies of south africa, managing director credit reference bureau b ltd., distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. it is my pleasure and honor to welcome you all to this auspicious occasion when we are launching the credit reference bureau ( crb ) and the associated financial card system ( fcs ). this is a major initiative by bank of uganda and government of uganda through the ministry of finance planning and economic development towards improvement of credit risk management in the financial sector. the establishment of the crb is an important milestone in the development of uganda ’ s financial sector. the absence of a crb in uganda has been a major bottleneck to the expansion of the volume of private sector credit. indeed, ugandan firms - large, small and medium enterprises consistently cite limited access to credit as one of the greatest barriers to their operations. up to now, the infrastructure for information sharing and unique borrower identification has been non - existent. the participating institutions ( pis ) ( commercial banks, credit institutions and microfinance deposit - taking institutions ) had no way of checking and sharing information on the credit history of borrowers. therefore, pis have continuously been exposed to high credit risk on account of inadequate information on borrowers ’ creditworthiness. this has inevitably resulted in increased cost of borrowing, thereby making credit more expensive than it would otherwise have been. as a step in the right direction, the parliament of uganda passed the microfinance deposittaking institutions act 2003 ( mdi act ) and the financial institutions act 2004 ( fia ), which propelled the process of establishing a credit reference bureau in the country. the fia mandates the central bank or its appointed agent or any other person authorized

bank of uganda remarks by prof. emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile, governor, bank of uganda 23rd ordinary meeting of the east african community monetary affairs committee kigali serena hotel 30th july 2019 fellow governors the imf resident representative for uganda representatives of the eac secretariat ladies and gentlemen good afternoon, first, let me take this opportunity to thank governor, john rwangombwa ; management ; and staff of the national bank of rwanda for the warm hospitality and the excellent organizational arrangements. i am pleased to be here in kigali for this 23rd ordinary meeting of the east african community monetary affairs committee ( mac ). allow me to give you an overview of the economic prospects back home. uganda ’ s economy remains strong, with growth projected at 6. 3 percent in fy 2019 / 20, largely driven by the accommodative monetary policy stance and the ongoing public infrastructure investments. inflation over the last 5 years has averaged 4. 4 percent, which is well below the inflation target of the eac macroeconomic convergence criteria. private sector credit extension grew by 12. 6 percent in fy 2018 / 19 compared to 6. 8 percent in fy 2017 / 18 and nonperforming loans as a percentage of total loans have declined from a peak of 10. 5 percent in december 2016 to about 3. 8 percent in march 2019. governors, notwithstanding these achievements on the domestic scene, allow me to underscore the consequences of the fragile international economic environment for our economies. the medium to long - term prospects for the global economy remain very uncertain. just last week, the imf reduced its global growth outlook, already the lowest since the financial crisis to 3. 2 percent, and suggested that policy “ missteps ” on trade and brexit could derail page 1 of 3 a projected rebound. the hazy global economic outlook coupled with the continuing uncertainty in global financial markets and financial risks may lead exchange rate volatility with adverse consequences for investment and growth in our economies. as we deliberate, we need to be aware that these external vulnerabilities, emphasize more than ever, the need for the eac to build resilience by strengthening policy co - ordination and intra - regional trade, which i am happy to note, is picking - up. governors allow me to reiterate the significant progress made towards the operationalization of the eamu protocol. we have made strides on harmonization of : monetary policy frameworks, exchange rate policies,