The government has allocated Shs 32.8 billion to tourism development in the third quarter of the 2025/26 financial year, under the Agro-Industrialisation, Tourism, Minerals and Science (ATMS) strategy.
The funding comes as part of a wider Shs 16.537 trillion released by the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, which aims at sustaining economic growth and improving service delivery in the country.
According to the finance ministry, this tourism funding will support promotion and development initiatives, including the country’s flagship “Explore Uganda” campaign, in a bid to consolidate recent gains that have seen the sector re-emerge as one of the country’s top foreign exchange earners.
The ATMS framework was designed by the government to drive tenfold economic growth, and tourism is considered a key sector because of its growing role in job creation and balance of payments stability.
While conducting his quarter three press briefing on Friday, the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury (PSST), Dr Ramathan Ggoobi, said the overall Q3 release will finance wages of Shs 2.175 trillion, non-wage expenditure of Shs 2.898 trillion, GoU development spending of Shs 514 billion, externally financed projects amounting to Shs 3.277 trillion, treasury operations of Shs 7.591 trillion, and Shs 82 billion in local revenue.
Dr Ggoobi said Uganda’s tourism sector, which had been badly battered by the Covid-19 pandemic and its ensuing lockdowns, continues to post strong recovery, reaching USD 1.7 billion in FY 2024/25.
“This impressive growth is attributed to sustainable peace, increased competitiveness of Uganda’s tourism industry, government investment in strategic tourism infrastructure, and the impact of our economic and commercial diplomacy interventions,” he said.
The strong tourism performance has also contributed to improved external sector indicators. For instance, according to the Treasury, Uganda’s exports of goods and services reached USD 13.4 billion in FY 2024/25.
As a result, Uganda recorded a Balance of Payments surplus of USD 2.37 billion for the year ending October 2025, reversing a USD 683 million deficit recorded a year earlier.
“This is the highest Balance of Payments surplus in the last 15 years,” Dr Ggoobi said.