KAMPALA, UGANDA: Government has said it will revoke trading licenses of business entities hoarding essential commodities on the market.
This was revealed by Matia Kasaija, the Minister of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development while addressing members of Uganda Parliamentary Press Association-UPPA during a National Budget Conference at Hotel Africana on Thursday.
Kasaija pointed out that the government is concerned about the illegal purchase and storage of essential products such as sugar, soap, cooking oil, and posho among others with an aim of creating scarcity on the market to fetch high prices.
Kasaija noted that it would not be a viable policy to ban the exportation of agricultural products because it would lead to a loss of revenue for the government and also encourage smuggling.
However, he reiterated that the government is aware of the increasing commodity prices across the country which has deprived a section of the population of essential commodities, attributing it to hoarding which he said the government has started to investigate.
Since 2021, the minister pointed out that the global prices for some key commodities have increased significantly mainly due to supply chain disruptions occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic, compounded by the Russia-Ukraine war.
The turmoil that erupted in February this year, affected the supply of goods and services from Russia and Ukraine, the two major sources of key commodities consumed directly such as oil and wheat used to manufacture other consumer goods in many countries including Uganda.
Further, Kasaija explained that the war has resulted in imported inflation in Uganda which caused a significant rise in the domestic prices, the household commodities such as laundry soap and cooking oil which has become too expensive thus sparking public outbursts.
The national budget conference is an annual event to afford the journalists and members of the Civil Society Organizations-CSOs opportunity to discuss key growth constraints, course of policy actions, and budget financing to spur industrialization and job creation.
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