Uganda's External Debt and the HIPC Initiative

This paper examines Uganda's experience with external debt and debt relief measures, in particular, the country's experience with the HIPC Initiatives (the original and the Enhanced one), and their relevance to poverty reduction. The Ugandan government's attempt to improve its record on social development has led to the country's first Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) in 1997, the second installment of which in 2000 has become Uganda's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP). Though Uganda's PEAP is not without its weaknesses, continued adherence to its main principles should ensure sustained progress in poverty reduction. The HIPC assistance is expected to free significant budgetary resources for Uganda's poverty reduction strategy, thus allowing the country to implement the development goals set out in its PRSP. In fact, average budgetary savings over the period 2000–2015 due to HIPC assistance is estimated to amount to as much as US$55.5 million per annum.