Finance Minister Matia Kasaija has said the annual Joseph Mubiru public lectures organized by the Bank of Uganda have provided a consistent source of evidence to support public policy formulation and implementation.
The Finance Minister made the remarks on Wednesday while presiding over the 26th Joseph Mubiru memorial lecture at Kampala Serena Hotel. Kasaija also represented President Yoweri Museveni at the lecture.
President Museveni in his message thanked the Bank of Uganda for keeping the inflation low and maintaining public confidence in the economy.
The President called upon the private sector to get involved in the development of financial technology solutions.
The lecture was organized under the theme: “The role of financial innovation and inclusion in Uganda” and Prof. Benno Ndulu the former Governor of the Bank of Tanzania was the guest speaker.
Matia Kasaija said there are six (6) C’s which are crucial for developing countries like Uganda to leverage financial innovations and inclusive finance to foster high and sustainable economic growth and structural transformation.
The six C’s are; Competition, Coordination, Collaboration, Consumer protection, Commitment and Communication.
He said the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives has already tabled to Cabinet the Competition bill, 2018 to ensure that market concentration, unfair business practices and other inequalities are regulated.
Kasaija hailed the Bank of Uganda for promoting financial literacy, but also acknowledged that there is still a challenge of high interest lending rates in the financial sector which must be addressed.
Prof. Benno Ndulu, said Uganda is catching up with leaders in digital transactions with 6 out of 10 Ugandans using digital payment.
He said technology has made the largest impact so far in the financial sector especially in the reduction of face to face cost via digitalization.
