1. Our Ugandan authorities appreciate the constructive engagement with staff during the recent Article IV consultations and first review under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement, and broadly share staffs assessment. We also appreciate staffs Selected Issues Papers, which provide helpful backing analysis.
1. Our authorities appreciate the constructive engagement during the recent negotiations for an arrangement under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). We thank staff for an insightful and well-written report. The authorities broadly share staff’s assessment and policy recommendations.
1. Uganda’s economy was hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. After the first COVID-19 case was detected in March 2020, the government swiftly introduced a four-month lockdown, which kept infection and fatality rates low. This had a strong negative effect on economic activity already hit hard by disruptions in global demand and supply chains. The resulting collapse in services and manufacturing halved Uganda’s real GDP growth to 3 percent in FY2019/20 (a contraction of 1.1 percent for CY 2020).
PHOTO: JEEVANI FERNANDO
Abstract
Sub-Saharan Africa is struggling to navigate an unprecedented health and economic crisis—one that, in just a few months, has jeopardized decades of hard-won development gains and upended the lives and livelihoods of millions.