The latest performance of the economy report released on Monday by the finance ministry indicates that Uganda has continued to enjoy a trade surplus with East African Community countries.
The report released Monday by the finance ministry shows that Uganda’s trade surplus with EAC countries has risen from $31.4m (sh113b) recorded in December 2021 to $47.4m (sh170.6b) realized in December 2021.
In October 2021, the trade surplus was $18m (sh64.8b).
Uganda enjoyed the highest trade surplus with the rest of Africa which increased to $53.5m from $52.9m recorded in November 2021.
This performance was majorly due to increased export receipts and a reduction in the import bill from these regions.
Export receipts increased marginally by 0.36% from $324.45m in November 2021 to $325.63m in December 2021.
This was mainly due to increased export earnings from coffee (by 5.86%) which more than offset the reductions for fish and beans.
The report indicates that Coffee benefited from higher volumes exported and a rise in global coffee prices.
The rise in global prices was partly due to a lower supply of coffee as a result of unfavourable weather conditions in Brazil and the shortage of shipping containers.
Similarly, earnings from cotton, tea, tobacco and maize increased because of higher export volumes during the period under review.
– New Vision