remarks by prof. emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile governor, bank of uganda at the high level stakeholders ’ engagement on building a 21st century ugandan economy kampala serena hotel tuesday, september 3, 2019 the bank of uganda ( bou ) has not only successfully achieved its inflation objective of low and stable inflation, but has done so while supporting economic activity. in the last two financial years ( fy ), uganda ’ s economy has grown on average by 6. 1 per cent from a growth of 3. 9 per cent in fy2016 / 17. investor surveys suggest that business conditions and sentiments are strong. credit to the private sector has improved ; helped by accommodative monetary policy stance. the economy is expected to maintain this growth momentum and is projected to grow by between 6. 0 and 6. 3 per cent in fy 2019 / 20, and between 6. 5 and 7. 0 per cent in the medium term. the growth prospects are supported by private sector credit growth ; public investment in infrastructure ; higher agricultural output due to favourable weather and positive government interventions in agriculture ; pick - up in activity in the mineral sector ; improved regional security ( with peace in south sudan and drc ), which are expected to boost uganda ’ s exports. there are downside risks to growth, including : a ) lower external demand due to a depressed global economy. b ) political and policy uncertainty, which are very elevated in several major economies with global growth continuing to be biased downwards. already, the probability for a global recession is very high. page 2 of 5 c ) climate change which will increase uncertainty of weather patterns and constrain the agricultural sector. domestic inflation remains subdued, with the annual headline and core inflation averaging 2. 7 per cent and 3. 7 per cent, respectively, in the quarter to august 2019. the inflation outlook is favourable, with inflation projected to stabilize around the 5. 0 per cent target in the medium term. given the current inflation outlook, bou has kept the policy rate on hold since october 2018. low inflation protects the purchasing power of ugandans, especially for the poor households. bou has successfully ensured financial sector stability, including through resolving commercial banks that posed systemic risks by being very highly interconnected, both by the number and size of transactions with the other commencial banks. currently, commercial banks are wellcapitalized, liquid, and profitable. improvements in asset quality have contributed to an easing of lending standards

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