Constructing a 2016/17 Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) for Uganda

A comprehensive analysis of the economic and social impacts of policy or economic changes on an economy requires an analytical framework which captures the complex inter-linkages between different agents in the economy. The social accounting matrix (SAM) is such a framework. A SAM is a comprehensive representation of the macro and meso economic accounts of a country, which captures transactions between all economic agents in the country via the factor and product markets. These agents include the different domestic industries, household groups, enterprises and governments. Thus, a SAM clearly shows the linkage between income distribution and economic structure in an economy. SAMs are also used as a direct input into a range of models, especially Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models. This paper and accompanying excel workbook describe the construction of a SAM for Uganda for the 2016/17 financial year. We discuss the structure of the SAM as the various sources of data. The data sources include the Supply Use Table for 2016/17, Government Financial Statistics (GFS), Ugandan National Household Survey, Balance of Payments and financial data. The development of the SAM is completed in 2 steps. First a Macro SAM is developed. This Macro SAM is then disaggregated further by disaggregating the activities and commodities accounts, labour income and expenditure, and the household accounts. We do not present the Full SUT and SAM as part of this paper. To access the Full SUT, contact the Ugandan Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), and to access the Full SAM, contact the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED).