A woman checks her wallet with different currencies from East African partner states.
PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
By MARTIN LUTHER OKETCH
Kampala- The finance ministers
within the East African Community have ruled out the possibility of the
region acquiring a single currency in the next 10 years.
Addressing a joint news conference in Kampala on Wednesday, the finance ministers said the EAC Heads of State will sign a protocol establishing the East African Monetary Union in November.
Finance ministers explained that signing the East African Monetary Union protocol will pave way for the establishment of East African monetary Union and subsequently, the East African single currency to be attained after a 10- year period.
The ministers further said the Monetary Union Protocol is based on the report of Council for East African Finance and Economic Affairs, which comprises of the East African finance ministers.
This was the second council meeting for the East African Finance and Economic Affairs, which saw them signing an agreement spelling out recommendations they have agreed upon to establish the East African Monetary Union in the long run.
Uganda’s Finance minister Maria Kiwanuka said they (East African finance ministers) are committed to establishing the East African Monetary Union.
“Some of the radical decisions that we agreed on are fiscal discipline, stable exchange rate and low inflation rate,” she said.
Negotiations complete
EAC finance ministers said all the technical negotiations have been completed and are ready for implementation.
Kenyan’s Finance minister Henry Rotich said the 10- year period is sufficient enough for fiscal and monetary convergence before the region moves into the single currency regime.
Tanzania’s Finance minister William Mgimwa said they have agreed on harmonising the East African statistics, which are critical to achieve a strong Monetary Union.
No comments :
Post a Comment