Tanzania c/a deficit widens 3.9 pct in yr to June

[Steve Dii]

Published:
Monday, 16 Aug 2010 | 1:16 PM ET
By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala
DAR ES SALAAM, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Tanzania's current account deficit widened
3.9 percent to $2.63 billion in the year to June due mainly to a rise in imports
of oil and consumer goods, the central bank said on Monday.
Imports of goods and services jumped 8.9 percent to $8.27 billion in the
period, the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) said in its monthly economic review for June.
"The value of goods imported increased ... largely due to a rise in the
value of imported oil, food stuffs, fertilisers and other consumer goods," the
bank said.
The value of imported oil increased to $1.9 billion compared to $1.4
billion in the preceding year, it said.
During the period in question, the country bought 3.4 million tons of
oil, compared with 2.7 million tons a year before.
The east African economy's goods and services exports jumped 15.2 percent
in June from a year earlier to $5.09 billion, with gold exports surging 67.4
percent to $1.38 billion.
Tanzania is Africa's third-largest gold producer.
Gold continued to outstrip tourism as Tanzania's biggest foreign exchange
earner, making up 44.1 percent of exports, while manufactured goods made up 20.7
percent, the bank said.
Tourism -- categorised as travel -- generated $1.23 billion, up from
$1.16 billion a year before. The industry has traditionally been Tanzania's
leading source of foreign exchange before being overtaken by gold in recent
months.
Traditional exports -- tea, coffee, cashew nuts and tobacco, among others
-- earned $451.9 million, down 8 percent over the previous year, due to a
decline in export volumes and a fall in cotton prices.
Tanzania's economy is largely driven by mining, farming and tourism. But
sectors such as manufacturing, telecommunications and financial services have
been growing in recent years and contributing more.
The central bank said bank credit to the private sector rose 14.1 percent
in the year to June, compared with a 32.8 percent increase a year before.
The bank said official gross reserves rose to $3.48 billion at the end of
June -- or 5.5 months of import cover -- from $2.93 billion at end June 2009,
boosted partly by funds from the International Monetary Fund's Exogenous Shocks
Facility.
The central bank aims for the country to have no less than five months of
import cover.
(Editing by George Obulutsa and Susan Fenton) (For more Reuters Africa
coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: Reuters.com)
Keywords: TANZANIA ECONOMY/
(Email: nairobi.newsroom@reuters.com.

 

[Mtazamaji]

Ingawa sina ujuvi mkubwa na mambo ya uchumi kwa nini BOT haijaongelea forecast ilivyokuwa na wanayotegemea mbeleni iwe ili tujue kama kweli they are doing their home work.

Kwa kweli ningependa kuona more analytical version ya hii kitu. Major export Za Dhahabu, na kilimo zilishuka yet juzi juzi serikali imejipamba kuwa imepunguza utegemezi wa bajeti kwa kiasi kikubwa.

MKapa aliacha import cover ya miezi zaidi ya saba kama sikosei. Kwa benki kuu kusema ina target kuwa na import cover ya miezi mitano inayonyesha kuna something wrong. We ae going back. Ukiwauliza watasema mafuriko, ukame , nk.

I think JF Management can do more ikienda ikatafuta hizi detailed report pale BOT . Inawezekana mwandishi kafanya summary kwa mambo anayopenda yeye.

 

[Koba]

Hii yote is coming back kwa hawa viongozi ambao ni no vision na akili ndogo,ukiangalia vizuri oil is killing us na ndio inatuletea umaskini wote huu,na hatuna sababu kabisa ya kuendelea kuendesha umeme wa mafuta ambao ndio magenerator yote karibu ya mikoani yanatumia,kuendelea kutumia umeme wa mafuta ni kujiletea umaskini tuu,kuna hydropower source na gas nyingi tu ambavyo vikitumiwa vizuri vitakata huo uagizaji wa mafuta kwa asilimia kubwa sana na itasaidia sana to fuel manufacturing kwa sababu umeme utakuwa wa kuaminika and hope utashuka bei kidogo na hiyo pesa badala ya kuagiza oil itaagiza machinery nyingine zitakazo produce consumer products,at the end of the day manufacturing itatoa ajira kwa millions of people which means more tax/income for our state....hivi kweli Jk na serikali yake hawawezi kuweka 400m USD for the next 5 yrs kujenga hydro ya kutupatia at least 300MW?nasikitika sana kuwa na viongozi wababishaji wasioelewa na wana cost nchi yetu big time na kutuletea umaskini wa kujitakia,pls JK invest invest heavy kwenye energy manaa ndio kila kitu na kila kitu kinategemea hapo...

 

[Richard]

hapo pia hijaoneshwa Interest rate imesimamaje, Iflation, GDP na hata Consumer Price index ikoje je wanachi wengi maskini wananunua bishaa ambazo kwa mrefu zimekuwa zikionekana ni za anasa?

Kwa ujumla indicators zote zachumi wa nci bado haziwaki.