The Ministry of Finance has revealed that the stock of Uganda’s public debt has now hit the Shs 130 trillion mark, after increasing from US$34.21 billion (Shs 128.648 trillion) in September 2025 to US$34.86 billion (Shs 130.844 trillion) by the end of December 2025.
The details are contained in the Quarterly Debt Statistical Bulletin and Public Debt Portfolio Analysis for December 2025, which was published by the ministry.
“The total public debt stock increased to US$34.86 billion (Shs 130.943 trillion) by the end of December 2025, up from US$34.21 billion (Shs 128.648 trillion) at the end of September 2025.
Domestic debt accounted for 54.5% of this total debt, equivalent to US$19.02 billion (Shs 68.86 trillion), while external debt made up 45.3%, equivalent to US$15.84 billion (Shs 57.33 trillion). This quarterly increase stemmed majorly from increased domestic debt issuances,” the report read in part.
The Quarterly Debt Statistical Bulletin and Public Debt Portfolio Analysis further revealed that as of December 2025, the largest share of external debt stock was denominated in USD currency, which stood at 46% (US$7.28 billion / Shs 26.34 trillion), followed by EURO at 35% (US$5.53 billion / Shs 20.01 trillion). The share of CNY-denominated external debt stock stood at 8% (US$1.31 billion / Shs 4.75 trillion), followed by JPY at 6% (US$0.86 billion / Shs 3.12 trillion).
The Ministry of Finance further revealed that the second quarter of FY2025/26 registered an increase in total external debt service, where US$416.62 million (Shs 1.563 trillion) was spent on external debt repayment, up from US$381.52 million (Shs 1.431 trillion) in the previous quarter. The increase was attributed to higher principal and fee payments during the period.
On who is owning Uganda’s debts, the Ministry of Finance revealed that multilateral creditors hold 65.13% of Uganda’s external debt stock, equivalent to US$10.32 billion (Shs 38.42 trillion) of external debt.
The report showed that the major multilateral creditors;the International Development Association (IDA), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and African Development Fund (AfDF) collectively hold the largest share of Uganda’s external debt stock, equivalent to 54.7% of the external debt portfolio.
Among bilateral creditors, Exim Bank of China and UK Export Finance (UKEF) are the largest, holding US$2.1 billion (Shs 7.81 trillion) and US$0.39 billion (Shs 1.45 trillion), respectively. For private creditors, Stanbic Bank leads with a holding of US$0.82 billion (Shs 3.05 trillion) during the same period.
