Announcement of the Uganda Consultative Group Meeting

FOR IMME°DIATF .RELEASE . •World Bank 1818 H s,~reet, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 J BANK NEWS RELEASE May 20, 1982 UGANDA CONSULTATIVE GROUP MEETING The following announcement was issued at the World Bank's European Office on May 19, 1982: A Consultative Group of countries and institutions interested in supporting economic and social development of Uganda met in Paris on May 18 and 19, 1982. Mr. Willi A. Wapenhans, Vice-President of the Eastern Africa Regional Office of the World Bank, chaired the meeting. Representatives of Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States, the African Development Bank, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, the Commission of the European Community, the European Investment Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, and the United Nations Development Programme attended the meeting. Belgium and the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation • for Economic Cooperation and Development were represented as observers. The Delegation from Uganda was headed by the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, The Honorable A.P.N. Waligo, and included the Minister of Planning and Economic Development, The Honorable S.N. Odaka, His Excellency Ambassador E.R. Kamuntu, Jn charge of the Ministry of Finance, Mr. L. Kibirango, Governor of the Bank of Uganda, and other senior government officials. The purpose of the meeting was to review the current economic situation and prospects of Uganda, and to discuss the Ugandan government's Economic Recovery Prog~am for the next two years. The meeting's discussions were based on the World Bank's report "Uganda - Country Economic Memorandum" of March 31, 1982, and the government's document "Recovery Programme 1982-1984 11 dated April 1982. The meeting endorsed the government's efforts to improve the country's economic performance through the Financial Program introduced in June 1981 and the new measures proposed in the Recovery Program. It was noted with satisfaction that Uganda had made considerable progress over the past year in its efforts to bring about financial stability, supported by a stand-by arrangement with the lnternation~l Monetary Fund. Participants welcomed the Recovery Program, which provided a strong indication of the government's willingness to focus on the essential requirements of a rehabilitation package. The participants agreed that it reflected a clear sense of pr!ortties as to what needs to be done immediately and what may have to wait because of resource constraints. The meeting concluded that to implement the government's Recovery Program fully, new commitments of external assistance ~ould have to total U.S. $1.4 billion over the next three years. There were positive indications that participants would provide continued support • to the government's recovery efforts, with due emphasis on the need for concessional and fast-disbursing assistance, aw well as technical expertise. / ... r - 2 - A number of delegates emphasized that success of the Recovery Program was dependent on the government's ability to maintain law and order and on further •• Improvements In the Internal security situation. The Uganda delegation reaffirmed and the meeting noted the government's col"l'Tlftment to democracy, rule of law, and protection of human rights. The meeting agreed that the Consultative Group for Uganda sh~uld reconvene in 18 months' time, to review progress on the implementation of the government's Recovery Program. • •