The Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana has assured members of parliament that despite the negative impact of COVID-19 pandemic, Rwanda’s Economy is on a strong rebound.
Presenting the state of National Economy and Budget, Minister Ndagijimana noted that as a result of strategic measures employed to contain the impact and manage COVID-19 pandemic, the Rwandan economy recovery is strong.
“In November 2021, GDP was revised upward from initial 5.1% to 10.2% to reflect the stronger performance in the first half of 2021. This strong recovery will continue in the medium term where growth is projected at 7.2% in 2022, 7.9% in 2023, 7.5% in 2024, and 7.5% in 2025,” Minister Ndagijimana said.
He pointed out that growth will be driven by good performance in agriculture, continued recovery in industry sector supported by mining sector and resumption of construction activities, as well as the services sector, which he said, has started to recover as a result of gradual removal of health restrictions.
Key Interventions
When COVID-19 pandemic struck, in early 2020, Government responded strongly and timely with both health and economic measures through the Economic Recovery Plan to mitigate its impact.
Key interventions focused on strengthening the health sector to manage the pandemic and build resilience to future pandemics, expanding social protection programs to support the most vulnerable people, supporting agriculture sector to ensure food security and establishment of the Economic Recovery Fund to support the most affected private businesses.
So far, the utilisation rate of the Frw 100 million Economic Recovery Fund last year currently stands at 90%. The fund provided loan resutructuring for hard hit sectors, direct subsidies for the transport sector, working capital for micro businesses SME‘s large corporations as well as loan guarrantees for SMEs.
Minister Ndagijimana informed parliamentarians that Government has mobilized additional USD 250 million to strengthen the existing Economic Recovery Fund but also create a new investment window to support expansion of existing and new investments to boost the economic recovery.
Economic Recovery outlook
Minister Ndagijimana cautioned parliamentarians that any economic performance in Rwanda and globally will depend on the COVID-19 situation. He assured that Government will continue to monitor the evolution of the pandemic and to respond adequately.
“Acceleration of the vaccination campaign, domestic manufacturing of vaccines, building the resilience of our health sector will continue to be the top priorities, to create conditions for economic activities,” Ndagijimana added.(End)