President Museveni has set a new target to be attained by Uganda's economy in the coming few years.
Speaking during the 37th liberation anniversary in Kakumiro district, the president said whereas the country has now attained the low middle income status, the target now is to aim higher.
"Our economy has grown from a miserable $1.5 billion in 1986, to $48 billion by end of June 2023. We have already entered the middle income status they are talking about but you need three years consecutively to be recognized as a middle income country and in my view all these are low targets that Uganda will easily surpass," Museveni said.
Official data indicates that Uganda's economy stands at about $45.7billion by the exchange rate method or $131billion by the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) system.
The president said the country can easily surpass move from the current low middle income status if a few things are done right.
"In my view, all those are low targets, which Uganda will easily surpass. Why? You remember my admonitions about losing value through the export of raw-materials. This low middle-income economy we are now talking about, is still, actually, mainly a raw materials producing economy, where for a kilogram of $5 coffee, we get $2 for bean coffee while the wiser foreigners who roast the coffee, grind it and pack it for sale in supermarkets, get 50 for the same kilogram."
He said that with value addition to the country's produce, the economy can easily grow rapidly from a low income middle economy in which it is currently ranked to a better position.
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"We are going to add value to more and more of our coffee and the other raw materials - cotton, maize, forest products, minerals, etc. This broad spectrum value addition movement will jumpstart our economy in a fairly short time to a- half-trillion economy ($ 500 billion)."
" We now have the electricity and we are adding more, we have the varied and massive raw materials and, increasingly, we have the entrepreneurs - local and foreign and we have the African market that we have put in place with our Pan-Africanist Comrades."
Wealth creation
The president said there is need for Ugandans to emphasize development and wealth creation.
He noted that social-economic transformation involves the whole society to move on two axes of money based wealth creation with proper calculation and mass-education
"The NRM has, however, all this time, been telling you that you do not eat tarmac roads but you eat the food that you have either grown or bought. The same applies to clothing, housing, mode of locomotion, etc. The latter, are all part of wealth and the former are part of development. Therefore, for wealth, we are telling you that every adult must engage in wealth for money with proper calculation , either as an entrepreneur or as an employee in the four sectors."
"You may have development, but if people are asleep, you can continue with the poverty. Why? It is because what eradicates poverty is wealth; development is a mere enabler of wealth creation."
