Uganda's foreign reserves rise by a third in past year, reversing slide

Uganda's foreign exchange reserves have risen by about one-third over the past year, a senior finance ministry official said on Tuesday, reversing a downward trend that the central bank had flagged as a concern.

Gross reserves stood at $4.3 billion in June, equivalent to 3.8 months of import cover and up from $3.2 billion a year earlier, the finance ministry's Permanent Secretary Ramathan Ggoobi told a press conference.

Ggoobi did not say why the East African country's reserves had risen, but in a March report on the state of the economy the central bank said it had stepped up foreign exchange purchases to boost reserves.

"The bank has also employed various tools, including foreign exchange swaps and cross-currency repos and plans to start gold purchases to diversify reserves in 2025," the report said.

The central bank's head of financial markets was not immediately available for comment.

Uganda's economy has recorded strong growth in recent years, supported by oil-sector investments and infrastructure spending, but rising government debt and servicing costs have threatened the sustainability of public finances.