A 33.5TRL/- BUDGET PLAN FOR 2019/2020 REVEALED

By a Special Correspondent

Dodoma

THE government’s expenditure is set to jump to 33.5 trillion Tanzanian shillings (about 14.67 billion U.S. dollars) in the next financial year, above the current fiscal year’s expenditure of 32.47 trillion shillings.

Tanzanian Minister for Finance and Planning, Dr Philip Mpango, said on Tuesday the government planned to increase its expenditure by 3.2 percent in the 2019/2020 financial year compared to the current financial year.

Dr Mpango was tabling the National Development Plan for 2019/2020 and Guidelines for the Preparation of the 2019/20 Planning and Budget in the National Assembly in the capital Dodoma.

He highlighted that the macroeconomic targets for 2019/2020 was to attain real GDP growth of 7.3 percent in 2019, up from the projected growth of 7.2 percent in 2018.

He said the 2019/2020 budget will put more emphasis on building more industries; improving agriculture, livestock and fisheries products, tourism, forests and natural resources.

“The budget will also focus on improving business and investment environment as well as investing more in education, health, social services, youth and people with disabilities among others,” he said.

He said the government will continue improving its relationship with the private sector while enhancing public-private partnership (PPP) projects thus impacting the social and economic development in the country.

Mpango said in order to increase and strengthen domestic resources mobilization, the government will continue investing more in information, communication and technology in the public sector.

Times Observer understand that, Tanzania is readying to make the necessary changes to its next fiscal year budget, preparing for a better economic environment and a promising future for the nation and its citizens.

Tanzania’s 2018/19 fiscal year budget amounted to $14 billion recording a significant 2.4 per cent in spending.

In comparison to the other FY budgets of the East African Community (EAC) nations, Kenya’s budget surpassed that of Rwanda’s at $2.8 billion and Uganda’s at $8.5 billion, and Tanzania’s combined. However, it was noticeable that all the countries increased their spending by a measurable percentage.

The Tanzania Development Vision 2025, which includes National Five Years Development Plan 2016/17 – 2020/21 and the CCM Manifesto 2015 – 2020 dictated the change in the government’s expenditure, aiming at building an industrial economy. Several priorities highlighted in the previous budget allocation seem to have changed in the new plan.

Under the 2018/19 Government Revenue and Expenditure, top priorities were agriculture, industries, social services, and infrastructure. Other priorities at the bottom of the pecking order included tourism, communication, and land acquisition. The government devised a stratagem on how to increase revenue through taxes.

At the pinnacle, agriculture is crucial as it is the country’s economic mainstay, a source of livelihood to most of the population and main export earner.

With industries, as the country pushes to become a middle-income country by 2025, industrialization is crucial in transforming the economy.

The necessary changes geared towards a better and sustainable economy are upheld by good governance and justice.

Despite President Magufuli emphasizing on foreign investments, the government has been slow to put in place the necessary business regulations to catalyse FDIs. Rather, it has in the meanwhile, urged local investment.