Italian private enterprises have cancelled an outstanding debt of $32,44-million owed by Uganda, the Italian embassy said on Wednesday.
”The money was formerly owed to private creditors for mainly supplying machinery to Uganda categorised as unsecured debts,” the Italian embassy’s economic and commercial attache, Michele Sabatino, said in a statement released here.
Money accruing from the cancelled debt should be allocated to social services, especially in poverty eradication efforts, such as health care and education, giving emphasis to fighting corruption, encouraging transparency and good governance, the statement said.
Sabatino said most of the monies were insured with
Italy’s Institute for Foreign Trade Insurance Services (SACE), which agreed to write them off.
Italy had also pledged two years ago to cancel up to $116-million Uganda owes to creditors in the Paris Club of donor nations, or 80% of the total debt Uganda owes to the club.
Uganda’s total foreign debt to date, owed mainly to multilateral organisations and the donor community, runs close to $4-billion. -Sapa-AFP