By Spy Uganda
Kampala: As Uganda continues to battle with the second wave of the deadly Covid-19 with a lot of uncertainty on when the Pandemic will be all over, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics [UBOS] new National Household survey report has ranked Busoga, Bukedi, and Acholi as regions having the highest number of people living in extreme poverty and they can barely afford a good meal per day.
According to Vincent Ssenono from the directorate of social-economic surveys, while releasing the Uganda National Household survey 2019/20 report which indicated that the number of people living under poverty in Busoga stands at 14% followed by the Bukedi region at 10.4% and Acholi sub-region standing at 10.3%.
Ssenono further indicated that the overall number of people living under poverty has increased from the current 8 million people to 8.3million people and the main region contributing the highest poverty numbers of people living in poverty is the Busoga region.
The report indicates that the number of households in the subsistence economy has increased from 3.3million people to a 3.5million and this is still on the increase due to the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
The report also reveals that the Kigezi region is the 4th region with the highest number of people living in poverty.
The national household survey is an important source of socio-economic data which is used in the generation of key indicators with a particular focus on household warfare.
Meanwhile, Uganda is yet to receive a tune of 3.5 trillion as Covid-19 response after a staff team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) led by Mr. Amine Mati conducted virtual missions to Uganda from February 2-March 5 and from May 25-May 28, 2021 to discuss a 36-month program under the Extended Credit Facility.
At the conclusion of the mission, Mr. Mati issued the following resolutions as a way to save the declining economy as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
”IMF staff have reached an agreement with the Ugandan authorities on a medium-term program that could be supported by IMF resources of about US$1 billion under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF). The staff-level agreement is subject to IMF management approval and Executive Board consideration which is expected in the coming weeks.
Uganda’s economy has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic that eroded people’s livelihoods. Growth has halved compared to pre-crisis levels and poverty has increased, reversing decades-long gains in wealth creation and inclusion despite the support measures introduced by the authorities.
