FOR IMMEQIATE RELEASE                 ~




•World Bank
1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. • Telephone: (202) 393-6360




            BANK NEWS RELEASE                                                     November 9, 1979


                                     UGANDA CONSULTATIVE GROUP MEETING


                 The following announcement was made by the World Bank's European
            Office in Paris on November 8, 1979:

                 A consultative group of countries and institutions interested in
            supporting economic and social development of Uganda met in Paris on
            November 7 and 8, 1979. The Chairman of the meeting was Mr. Willi A.
            Wapenhans, Vice President of the Eastern Africa region of the World Bank.
            Representatives of Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the
            United Kingdom, the United States, Yugoslavia, the Abu Dhabi Fund, the
            African Development Bank, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in



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            Africa, the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation, the European
            Economic Community, the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations
            and the United Nations Development Programme attended the meeting.
            Furthermore, Australia, Belgium, the Development Assistance Committee
            of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the
            European Investment Bank, Finland, India, Ireland, the Netherlands,
            Sweden and Switzerland were represented by observers.

                 The Ugandan delegation was led by the Minister of Finance, the
            Honorable Jack A.P.M. Sentongo, and included the Honorable Anthony Ocaya,
            Minister of Planning and Economic Development, and the Governor of the
            Central Bank, Mr. G. Nkojo.

                 The purpose. of the consultative group meeting was to discuss the
            scope and magnitude of the government's rehabilitation program and the
            urgent need for external assistance in financing this program.

                 The meeting reviewed the Uganda government Program for Economic
            Reconstruction and Rehabilitation. Shortly after taking office, the
            government had requested the Commonwealth Secretariat to study Uganda's
            reconstruction needs; in close cooperation with Ugandan officials, a
            team of experts prepared a report on the ~ehabilitation of the economy
            of Uganda. This report, along with a government statement on its economic
            and social pol icy, and a rehabilitation program outlined by the World Bank
            served as the basis for the discussions of the consultative group .



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      The discussion focused on the economic and financial difficulties
confronting the government over the next 12 months. The Ugandan dele-
gation described the measures it has taken and is prepared to take to
overcome the disruptions resulting from inflation and black marketeering
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and the problem of internal security. It was noted that the volume of
imports declined substantially over the past eight y~ars: industrial
output fell drastically, cash crop production (cotton, coffee, tea) has
declined and the transport infrastructuoe has deteriorated considerably.
The government emphasized to the meeting that agricultural and industrial
production can only be restored to acceptable standards if a considerable
flow of foreign exchange is made available quickly to finance essential
imports of raw materials and spare parts.

      Representatives at the meeting noted the considerable efforts made
by the government to restore priority to its development efforts. In
addition the recent improvements in internal security, reflecting the
steps the government has taken to address this security problem, were
noted during the discussions. Preliminary indications given at the
meeting by the representatives reflected their general concern with the
problems faced by the government and a number of the countries and insti-
tutions outlined the levels of assistance they expect to provide to Uganda
over the next year.




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