BANK OF UGANDA UGANDAS ECONOMY DOLLAR SITUATION The advice I am reading from our economists is that we should scale down on spending as population as the major point. I agree, when a Ugandan wakes up, beyond food almost everything else is imported from underwear to the wigs, phone, the internet, social media platforms etc That above means we are chasing dollars so we can continue to buy those things. On the other hand, there isn’t demand for the shillings! Over 95% of those who consume those imported products who are us, produce nothing for the external markets and don’t even think about it as important. FACT - It’s almost impossible to scale down a consuming habit of both general population and those who control our taxes. They want to expensive Japanese cars, want to fly business class, expensive shopping etc QUICK SOLUTIONS Kenya’s shillings hold strong because of export of flowers, vegetable and TOURISM which is a low hanging fruit. Last weekend for example had millions of dollars spent in NAIROBI by runners from different countries including uganda. Over 500 Ugandans were spending money in Nairobi last weekend, hotels, Airbnb were packed, restaurants were busy, Uber would show you the demand etc UGANDAS CASE 1- Let’s push a very aggressive marketing campaign of Uganda in friendly countries which have people with higher spending power. 2- Let’s create a visa free campaign for spender from countries with higher purchasing power! For example say, as long as you can prove that you are going spending usd 2500 in Ugandas economy, you will get your visa on arrival at no cost! I have always told you that when people move, money moves! When visitors come to uganda, money comes to Uganda. The truth is that even when poor people gather, money changes hands, very basic knowledge.