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    Money · Bank of Uganda and insurance statistics via UBOS

    The shilling, the banks and your money

    A US dollar cost about UGX 2,600 in 2014 and UGX 3,726 in 2023: 43% more shillings. In June 2019, banks charged 19.0% a year on shilling loans on average, but paid only 3.4% on savings accounts.

    US dollar, 2023

    UGX 3,726

    average inter-bank rate

    Bank lending rate, 2019

    19.0%

    vs 3.4% paid on savings

    Cash outside banks, 2023

    UGX 6.3 trillion

    about UGX 136,000 per person

    Bank loans, 2023

    UGX 22.2 trillion

    to businesses and households

    Did you know?

    Bank loans to businesses and households grew from UGX 9.4 trillion in 2014 to UGX 22.2 trillion in 2023.

    What a dollar costs in shillings

    Average inter-bank rate, UGX per US$

    2014
    2023

    Banks lend dear and pay little on savings

    Interest rates in June, % a year

    • Central Bank Rate
    • Bank lending (shillings)
    • Savings deposits (shillings)
    • 91-day Treasury bill
    2014
    2019

    Who the banks lend to

    Loans to businesses and households vs net lending to government, UGX trillion, June

    • Businesses & households
    • Central government (net)
    2014
    2023

    How much money is there?

    Broad money (cash and bank deposits), UGX trillion, June

    • Cash outside banks
    • Shilling deposits
    • Foreign currency deposits

    Insurance is growing, especially life cover

    Premium income, UGX billion

    • Life insurance
    • Non-life insurance
    2012
    2018

    What people insure

    Non-life premium income by type, UGX billion, 2018

    About these numbers

    • Exchange rates are Bank of Uganda annual averages of the inter-bank mid-rate. The 2014–2019 rates come from a UBOS file titled “Volumes of Inter-bank and Bureaux Foreign Exchange Transactions”.
    • Interest rates are for June of each year; UBOS has not published a newer table.
    • Bank figures are for June of each year. Where the older and newer UBOS tables overlap (2019), the newer one is used.
    • UBOS’s “Ratio of diaspora remittances to GDP” table covers only capital transfers (about US$176 million in 2022/23), not all the money Ugandans abroad send home, so it is not shown.
    • Insurance figures are premium income reported by the Insurance Regulatory Authority, 2012–2018.

    Where this comes from