The economy is estimated to have grown by around 5 per cent in 2023, despite external shocks characterised by high inflation, geopolitical tension, tightened financial conditions and climate-related challenges, the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) said.
It said in its Monetary Policy Statement, Mid-Year Review 2023/24 issued on recently that growth is projected to reach 5.5 per cent this year driven by improved business environment and public investment in infrastructure.
According to the statement, economic growth averaged 5.3 per cent in the first three quarters of 2023, driven mainly by agriculture, finance & insurance, mining and quarrying activities.
Zanzibar’s economy grew at 7 per cent in 2023, mainly driven by accommodation and food services, construction and manufacturing, it said.
The bank said it implemented a monetary policy based on a monetary targeting framework in the first half of 2023/24 to achieve the inflation target of 5 per cent.
The framework was also meant to facilitate the attainment of a real GDP growth of 5 per cent in 2023 and 5.5 per cent in 2024 for Mainland Tanzania and 7.1 per cent and 7.4 per cent for Zanzibar.
According to the statement, the economy is forecasted to continue recovering and growth in Mainland Tanzania is projected at around 5.2 per cent in the second half of 2023/24 and 5.5 per cent in 2024. In Zanzibar, the economy is forecasted to grow strongly at 7.4 per cent in 2024.
The growth projections are attributable to the improving business environment, public investment, a rebound in tourism activities and implementation of policies and reforms.
In addition, on balance, the ongoing rains will contribute positively to output growth. The bank said government fiscal performance was satisfactory.
In the first half of 2023/24, domestic revenue amounted to 14,754.9bn/-, representing a performance of 95.8 per cent of the target. Tax revenue was 98.6 per cent of the target on account of improvement in tax administration and compliance. In Zanzibar, domestic revenue amounted to 709.8bn/-, in line with the target.
Tax revenue was 101.1 per cent of the target, and non-tax revenue at 86.2 per cent, attributable to improved tax administration, including automation of revenue collection. Foreign reserves remained adequate, amounting to 5.5 billion US dollars at the end of December 2023, equivalent to 4.5 months of projected imports.
The government projected economic growth to reach 5.2 per cent in 2023, up from 4.7 per cent in 2022, the Minister for Finance, Dr. Mwigulu Nchemba said in the National Assembly in June last year.
Presenting the state of the economy for 2023 in the august House, the minister said the economy was expected to grow stronger on the back of rebounding tourism and continued stability of global supply chain.
Growth had slowed to 4.7 per cent in 2022 from 4.9 per cent in 2021 due in part to the impact of the war in Ukraine that sent commodity prices, notably on food and energy, soaring.
The finance minister said Tanzania’s GDP value in current prices in 2022 reached 171.3tri/- (equivalent to 77.6 billion US dollars) compared to 156.4tri/- (69.94 billion US dollars) in 2021.
And based on the 2022 Population and Housing Census where the population of Tanzania Mainland reached 59.9 million, GDP per capita increased to 2,844,641/- equivalent to 1,229.1 US dollars in 2022 up from 2,708,999/- equivalent to 1,173.3 US dollars in 2021 to make Tanzania remain in the lower middle-income status.
Daily News
No comments:
Post a Comment