Given the unusual circumstances, the Finance ministers struck an optimistic posture, perhaps trying to lift the spirits of a region weighed down by the ripple effects of varying levels of Covid-19 related lockdowns in three of the member states.
In Uganda, Finance Minister Matia Kasaijja who expects to finance 75 per cent of his plan from domestic resources flexed the tax collectors target from Ush20.5 trillion to Ush21 trillion.
The other possibility is that having been firmed up well before the coronavirus crisis, there was little time to adjust for present realities beyond some stimulus and the Finance ministers will soon be back in parliament to present amendments.
The challenge for any African Finance minister in the present circumstances is that it is difficult to cut social spending because present budgets are already below minimum thresholds.
With that stark reality at the back of their mind, the ministers appear to be gambling on the odds that the adverse impacts of the coronavirus crisis will abate early in the new financial year.
