Uganda’s export earnings rose 10.2% from a year earlier in July, helped by higher shipments of commodities including gold, cocoa and flowers, the finance ministry said in a report seen by Reuters on Monday.
The surge in export earnings could help cushion the local currency, the shilling, which has been weakening against the dollar in recent days.
Export earnings rose to $1.40 billion in July from $1.27 billion a year earlier, the ministry said in its report.
The increase in export receipts was mainly driven by higher earnings from shipments of a range of commodities including gold, cocoa, flowers, maize and others. The value of gold shipments surged 35% to $788.45 million in July.
Earnings from gold were up due to higher export volumes and an increase in international gold prices amid “increased demand for gold as a safe haven amid heightened global geopolitical tensions,” the ministry said.
Uganda is a regional gold-processing hub. Gold and coffee are the East African country’s main sources of foreign exchange.
(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Vincent Mumo Nzilani and Thomas Derpinghaus)
