EAC Finance Ministers meet in Kampala

KAMPALA - Ministers in charge of Finance from partner states of the East African Community (EAC) are meeting in Kampala to examine proposals aimed at ensuring successful implementation of the Customs Union. Under the arrangement, partner states are required to behave as a single customs territory. Finance Minister John Rwangombwa yesterday said that the meeting will also help identify whether there are problems that might have an impact on budget processes in partner states. As part of the customs integration plan, partner states have uniform periods for reading their national budgets. “The meeting is helping to find out, for example, if tariffs on imports can be reduced or increased,” said the minister. According to the treaty, when a partner state proposes an increase or reduction in tariffs, the outcome of the proposal uniformly applies to all partner states. Peter Kiguta, the Director General of the EAC Directorate of Customs and Trade, said that all partner states have made proposals on the tariffs. “There are various proposals from all EAC countries and these have been discussed at senior officials’ level. The Ministers are yet to look at them,” he said in a separate interview yesterday. Analysts have argued that a customs union on its own will not bring about faster economic development in the region unless it’s supported by other measures such as development of infrastructure to link production areas to markets. Ends