Francis Kagolo
8 July 2008
Kampala — THE Cabinet has approved sh100b to recapitalise the Uganda Development Bank, finance minister Ezra Suruma has said.
According to Suruma, the bank, starting this financial year, would loan the money to small and medium enterprises at low interest rates.
"We want to enable small and medium enterprises grow so as to enhance the Prosperity-For-All (Bonna Bagaggawale) programme," Suruma explained.
The minister was last Thursday speaking at the 30th anniversary celebrations of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala.
Reading the 2008/09 budget last month, Suruma hinted at the further capitalisation of the bank as one of the Government's efforts to improve the country's business environment.
Established in 1972, the bank which is owned by the Government, aims at promoting development in various sectors of the economy. Its emphasis is on agriculture, industry, tourism, housing and commerce.
"The Government has put its money where its mouth is," Suruma noted, adding that the Poverty Eradication Action Plan would be reviewed.
Formed in 1978, IFAD, a UN agency is one of the key funders of the National Agriculture Advisory Services.
With nearly 50% of its funding coming to Africa, Marian Bradley, the agency's country programme manager, said IFAD was among the top three multinational institutions on the continent.
"In Uganda, we have spent the last 25 years focusing on improving agricultural technology, promoting decentralisation to strengthen local governments and supporting rural financial services to encourage savings mobilisation," Bradley explained.
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