Parliament has passed the Shs 1.08 trillion Supplementary Expenditure Schedule No. 3 and Addendum to Schedule 3 for the Financial Year 2019/2020.
The supplementary, which was time bound, was passed on Friday, 26 June 2020 by the House chaired by Speaker Rebecca Kadaga.
Broken down, Shs 920.9 billion will be used for recurrent expenditure while Shs 166.7 billion for development expenditure.
According to the Budget Committee report, the government has allocated Shs 89 billion additional funding to the Ministry of Health to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.
The money is intended for procurement of personal protection equipment for medical personnel, payment of allowances and distribution of test kits and laboratory consumables.
An additional Shs 45 billion was approved to address the impact of the rising water levels and floods including support for social services and infrastructure.
Parliament has also approved Shs 50 billion as part of the supplementary expenditure, to support microfinance support centres.
The Chairperson of the Budget Committee, Hon. Amos Lugoloobi, said that from the start of the pandemic, the Micro Finance Support Centre was experiencing a decline in the operating capital of SACCOs, Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) due to reduced savings because of the lockdown.
“It is important to get the best alternative to ease the negative impact of Covid-19 and ensure that those accessing monies from SACCOS ensure continuity of their business activities that have been affected,” Lugoloobi said.
The 2019/2020 financial year closes on Tuesday, 30 June 2020.
Meanwhile, in April, Parliament first passed a supplementary budget request of Shs 304 billion to help in the fight against the spread and treatment of Covid-19.
The supplementary budget that was passed was meant to cater for the activities under the emergency response to Covid- 19 under the following agencies; Health (HQs, Referral Hospitals, District Hospitals, DMOs), Security (UPDF, Police, Prisons, ISO, ESO, immigration), Local Government (RDCs and Districts), KCCA, Disaster preparedness/ Support to the vulnerable.
The Health Sector was allocated a total budget of Shs 82,562,065,127 required to support a number of interventions which include; Recruitment of 250 additional health care personnel, Transportation and Accommodation of Staff, Welfare requirements for health care staff and patients, Accommodation and welfare for patients under quarantine, Protective gear (PPE), Test Kits, Intensive Care Beds and Restoration of functionality of oxygen facilities at Mulago and other referral hospitals.
Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
