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- Feb 11, 2007
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Concerns are rising as development projects are being underfunded and revenue collection is falling.
In Summary
A Bank of Tanzania (BoT) report has established that the government released only Sh387 billion for development projects, down from Sh824.4 billion it planned for disbursement in September.
Deogratius Kamagi @Deogratiuskamagi dkamagi@tz.nationmedia.com
Dar es Salaam. Concerns are rising as development projects are being underfunded and revenue collection is falling.
A Bank of Tanzania (BoT) report has established that the government released only Sh387 billion for development projects, down from Sh824.4 billion it planned for disbursement in September.
BoT’s October 2016 economic review also showed that the government missed its domestic revenue collection target by 16 per cent in the month.
Only Sh82.2 billion of non-income revenue was collected, down from the projected Sh225.7 billion during the period.
The collection income tax target of Sh573.6 billion was missed by 10 per cent. Foreign-financed projects got only Sh100.6 billion instead of the targeted Sh993.6 billion.
The report has shown that the Central Government collected 84.3 per cent of the planned Sh1.3 trillion.
Sh41.2 billion against the target of Sh55.5 billion was collected from Local Government sources.
Grants received were less by Sh400.9 billion. Taxes on imports were Sh27.8 billion below the target.
The goal was also missed in income tax by Sh55.8 billion
Finance and Planning minister Philip Mpango was not immediately available to comment on the trend yesterday. But Mzumbe University economics professor Prosper Ngowi said the decline in revenue has been attributed by the government’s cutting-cost measures.
He said the government would have spent the collected money to stimulate the economy. “It is not healthy to spend below the collected revenue. This reduces the value of money into the circulation. We don’t have to cut costs even for the approved budget.”
Prof Ngowi said failure to return the money collected from economic activities into the circulation through government expenditure would lead to the shrinkage of sources of income that would eventually affect the government itself.
Recently Shadow Finance minister Halima Mdee told Parliament that the government was broke as it has failed to finance even its priority areas.
The Kawe legislator on a CHADEMA ticket said in her alternative budget framework for 2017/18 that the government had failed even to act on its key priority area of building an industrial based economy. She noted that since the first quarter of 2016 the government had failed to disburse even a single cent out of the Sh40 billion development budget of the ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
Earlier, MP Mwita Waitara (Ukonga — CHADEMA) said if government had not run out of money why it had failed to disburse the constituency funds to all seats.
“I would use the language that our leaders want to hear, that the government is financially sound. But if that is the case, then why the money, which is purely going to development projects in constituencies is yet to be issued? We have already made promises to our voters but we can’t honour them and now they think we are liars,” said Mr Waitara.
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa insisted that the government was financially sound.
He insisted that delayed disbursement of the constituency funds should not be taken as a sign of financial problems. “There are priority areas; but I assure all MPs that the money will be issued in due course.”
He also said the government had started issuing funds for development projects.
Meanwhile, the BoT report indicated that the the current account deficit narrowed from $4,910.2 million in the year ending August 2015 compared with $1,912 million in the year ending August 2016. “The improvement was mostly driven by an increase in exports and a fall in imports,” said BoT.
The report indicate that imports decreased by six per cent thus allowing the country to save a lot of its foreign reserves.
“All categories of imports declined, except industrial raw materials. This is partly attributed to an exchange rate appreciation and completion of major projects, such as construction of cement factory, power plants and exploration activities,” reads part of the report.
Source: The Citizen
In Summary
A Bank of Tanzania (BoT) report has established that the government released only Sh387 billion for development projects, down from Sh824.4 billion it planned for disbursement in September.
Deogratius Kamagi @Deogratiuskamagi dkamagi@tz.nationmedia.com
Dar es Salaam. Concerns are rising as development projects are being underfunded and revenue collection is falling.
A Bank of Tanzania (BoT) report has established that the government released only Sh387 billion for development projects, down from Sh824.4 billion it planned for disbursement in September.
BoT’s October 2016 economic review also showed that the government missed its domestic revenue collection target by 16 per cent in the month.
Only Sh82.2 billion of non-income revenue was collected, down from the projected Sh225.7 billion during the period.
The collection income tax target of Sh573.6 billion was missed by 10 per cent. Foreign-financed projects got only Sh100.6 billion instead of the targeted Sh993.6 billion.
The report has shown that the Central Government collected 84.3 per cent of the planned Sh1.3 trillion.
Sh41.2 billion against the target of Sh55.5 billion was collected from Local Government sources.
Grants received were less by Sh400.9 billion. Taxes on imports were Sh27.8 billion below the target.
The goal was also missed in income tax by Sh55.8 billion
Finance and Planning minister Philip Mpango was not immediately available to comment on the trend yesterday. But Mzumbe University economics professor Prosper Ngowi said the decline in revenue has been attributed by the government’s cutting-cost measures.
He said the government would have spent the collected money to stimulate the economy. “It is not healthy to spend below the collected revenue. This reduces the value of money into the circulation. We don’t have to cut costs even for the approved budget.”
Prof Ngowi said failure to return the money collected from economic activities into the circulation through government expenditure would lead to the shrinkage of sources of income that would eventually affect the government itself.
Recently Shadow Finance minister Halima Mdee told Parliament that the government was broke as it has failed to finance even its priority areas.
The Kawe legislator on a CHADEMA ticket said in her alternative budget framework for 2017/18 that the government had failed even to act on its key priority area of building an industrial based economy. She noted that since the first quarter of 2016 the government had failed to disburse even a single cent out of the Sh40 billion development budget of the ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment.
Earlier, MP Mwita Waitara (Ukonga — CHADEMA) said if government had not run out of money why it had failed to disburse the constituency funds to all seats.
“I would use the language that our leaders want to hear, that the government is financially sound. But if that is the case, then why the money, which is purely going to development projects in constituencies is yet to be issued? We have already made promises to our voters but we can’t honour them and now they think we are liars,” said Mr Waitara.
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa insisted that the government was financially sound.
He insisted that delayed disbursement of the constituency funds should not be taken as a sign of financial problems. “There are priority areas; but I assure all MPs that the money will be issued in due course.”
He also said the government had started issuing funds for development projects.
Meanwhile, the BoT report indicated that the the current account deficit narrowed from $4,910.2 million in the year ending August 2015 compared with $1,912 million in the year ending August 2016. “The improvement was mostly driven by an increase in exports and a fall in imports,” said BoT.
The report indicate that imports decreased by six per cent thus allowing the country to save a lot of its foreign reserves.
“All categories of imports declined, except industrial raw materials. This is partly attributed to an exchange rate appreciation and completion of major projects, such as construction of cement factory, power plants and exploration activities,” reads part of the report.
Source: The Citizen
