Despite a series of crises over the last three years, Uganda has attained middle-income status, President Yoweri Museveni remarked on Tuesday.
According to official figures, the country’s GDP was at around $45.7 billion using the exchange rate method or $131 billion using the purchasing power parity (PPP) approach one week ago.
“This translates to $1046 in GDP per capita.” “We have now cleared the threshold of middle-income status ($1,030),” Mr Museveni said at his annual State of the Nation Address in Kampala.
Speaking in person to mostly governing NRM party MPs on June 7, Mr Museveni expressed confidence that Uganda will retain its position above the middle-income GDP per capita level of about $1,030.
“You need to do this for two to three years in a row to be considered a middle-income nation,” he said.
On the surging commodity prices, Mr Museveni said he was using diplomacy to engage global leaders such as Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in urging him to tackle the challenges he had created. The conflict in Ukraine after Russia’s incursion on February 14 has caused disruptions in global supply lines.
In terms of economic stimulus, the President said that the government cannot divert funds toward consumption rather than infrastructure construction.
“I’m accustomed to issues. I’m not disturbed when folks are frightened since I’ve dealt with greater difficulties. But the most severe issue I don’t want is a shortage of food,” stated the president.
Read: Museveni’s Address: No Government Intervention in the Face of High Living Costs
He said that the government will prioritize production, stating that his administration is collaborating with the business sector to manufacture solar-powered water pumps that wealthy farmers may purchase and use for small irrigation.
On Tuesday, the 77-year-old president of a nation with millions of jobless inhabitants requested more agricultural output to meet global demand.
“Our aim is that anything agricultural that is not eaten immediately should be processed industrially so that it may reach distant markets,” he said.
Over 100 opposition MPs walked out of the constitutional ceremony in Kololo on Tuesday, accusing the president of “interfering with the country’s courts” and “failing to tackle” the country’s catastrophic economic catastrophe.
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