Kampala - Ugandans working abroad have sent back 450 million dollars less in the first quarter this year than in the same period last year, a sign that the credit crunch is biting, government officials said Monday. Many African nations rely on remittances to boost their economies. Ugandans working in the West have in recent years sent home an average of two billion dollars a year.
The state-owned New Vision quoted government officials as saying that remittances had fallen from 800 million dollars in the first quarter of 2008 to 350 million dollars for the same period in 2009, negatively impacting the East African nation's construction and small enterprises sectors.
"Seriously affected are those who own businesses, particularly in the mortgage business," The New Vision quoted Maggie Kigozi, executive director of the Uganda Investment Authority, as saying. "Those in the housing sector in UK and US have been badly affected."
Uganda's budget relies on donor support for about 40 per cent of its total.
