Announcement of Uganda Consultative Group Meeting on January 26, 1984

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W ., Washington , D .C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone : (202) 477-1234 January 26, 1984 Contact: Pamela Brennan (202) 477-3293 UGANDA CONSULTATIVE GROUP MEETING The European Office of the World Bank made the following announcement today: The Consultative Group of countries and institutions interested in supporting the economic development of Uganda met in Paris on January 25 and 26, 1984. Mr. Jochen Kraske, Director of Country Programs in the Eastern Africa Region of the World Bank, chaired the meeting. Representatives of Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States, African Development Bank, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, Commission of the European Communities, Food and Agriculture Organization, International Fund for Agricultural Development, International Monetary Fund, Islamic Develop- ment Bank, United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme attended the meeting. Belgium, DAC/OECD, the Netherlands and Switzerland 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 Sam Odaka, His Excellency Ambassador E.R. Kamuntu, President's Office, Ministry of Finance, Mr. L. Kibirango, Governor of the Bank of Uganda, His Excellency Ambassador David Nabeta, Uganda's Ambassador to France, and other senior Government officials, The purpose of the meeting was to review the current economic situation and prospects of Uganda since the last Consultative Grou~ meeting in May 1982, and to discuss the Ugandan Government's plans for the next two years, and its needs for external assistance. The meeting's discussions were based on the World Bank's report "Uganda -- Country Economic Memorandum" of December 9, 1983, and the Government's "Revised Recovery Programme" dated 24 October 1983, The meeting noted with satisfaction the significant improvement in Uganda's economic performance since the introduction of a series of policy measures in June 1981, supported by increased levels of external assistance, including three stand-by arrangements with the International Monetary Fund. In reviewing the progress of the Recovery Programme 1982-1984, the meeting noted that implementation of the program had been slower than expected, in part due to the shortage of external resources and weaknesses in implementation capacity. The Government's Revised Recovery Programme, covering the period mid-1983 to mid-1985, was welcomed by the meeting as a sound document which continued to  -2- reflect the same priorities but hadamore realistic view of resource con- straints than the Recovery Programme 1982-1984, and took into account limitations in implementation capacity. The meeting noted the measures being taken to improve implementation capacity, especially in public administration and concluded that amongst other necessary steps to implement the Revised Recovery Programme, new commitments of US$430 million in 1984 and US$440 million in 1985 would be desired. Participants indicated their support for the Govern- ment's efforts and the need for fast-disbursing assistance on concessional terms, as well as technical assistance. The meeting welcomed the Agreement reached by the Presidents of the three Partner States on the division of the assets and liabilities of the former East African Community and noted the opportunities this could open up for increased regional cooperation, which might attract additional donor support. The meeting noted that, despite improvements in the internal security situation since the previous Consultative Group meeting, incidents which threatened law and order continued to occur. Particular regret was expressed over the recent incident in which four non-Ugandans working in Uganda had lost their lives. The Uganda delegation reaffirmed the Government's deter- mination to bring about further improvements in the security situation within the constitutional democratic framework of law and order and the protection of human rights. The meeting agreed that the Consultative Group for Uganda should reconvene in a year and a half to review and consider further steps.