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,

emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile : closing remarks at the financial markets development stakeholders ’ workshop remarks by mr emmanuel tumusiime - mutebile, governor of the bank of uganda, at the cocktail of the stakeholders ’ workshop on developing the 5 - year financial markets development plan, kampala, 15 august 2007. * * * distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. i would like to thank you for taking part in the workshop to map out priority areas for uganda ’ s 5 - year financial markets development plan. the results of this workshop will go a long way in helping us to achieve an integrated financial market that is sound, stable and supportive in the efficient mobilisation and allocation of resources for economic growth and sustainable development. the bank of uganda has maintained prudent monetary policy which has resulted in a lot of developments in the economy including ensuring price stability, a vibrant and sound banking system. amongst other things, this has resulted into strong portfolio flows into this economy. emerging markets have become increasingly attractive to foreign investors and the only way to sustain this attractiveness is through deepening and widening the financial markets and managing the economy in a prudent manner through avoidance of policy reversals and maintaining transparency in economic management. the band of uganda shall continue to commit itself to consolidating the successes that have been achieved over time. you as stakeholders have a big role as practitioners and regulators to make your individual contributions in your various sectors towards attainment of the benchmarks that you have set for yourselves, while we provide the enabling environment. i would like to urge those of you who have been selected to represent the various sectors to the financial markets development committee to dedicate yourselves to the task ahead of you to enable us to come up with the 5 - year plan as soon as possible. this will enable us to find time to liaise with our sister central banks in the region that are also going through the same exercise in order to arrive at a harmonised and consolidated east african community regional 5 - year market development plan. finally, i would like to thank all the participants again for your deliberations and to single out gtz / sida for the technical assistance that they have provided to uganda over the years in forging ahead with financial sector development programmes. thank you for your participation and for listening to me.