Vehicles and pedestrians make their way along a busy retail street in central Kampala, Uganda, on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. Uganda’s central bank said it stands ready to act if the World Bank’s decision to halt new funding over the country’s passage of anti-LGBTQ legislation impacts the currency further. Photographer: Luke Dray/Bloomberg via Getty Images

KAMPALA, June 13 (Reuters) – Uganda’s budget deficit is projected to rise to 5.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) in the fiscal year that starts in July, up from 4.5% in the current fiscal year, its finance minister said on Thursday.

The economy of Africa’s biggest coffee producer has fared better than many of its peers since the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is expected to grow between 6.4% and 7% in the 2024/25 fiscal year, finance minister Matia Kasaija said in a budget speech.

“Uganda’s economy has fully recovered from the various external and internal shocks that impacted performance in the past four years,” Kasaija said.

The government will spend 72.1 trillion Ugandan shillings ($19.4 billion) in the next fiscal year, borrowing 8.97 trillion shillings domestically and helped by 1.4 trillion shillings in budget support, he said.

($1 = 3,725.0000 Ugandan shillings)

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Alexander Winning)

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