Tanzania must publish Covid-19 data to unlock IMF emergency loan

WASHINGTON, USA

Tanzania needs to publish data on the spread of Covid-19 before getting approval for a $574 million emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund, the Washington-based lender said.

 Tanzania President, Samia Hassan (L) with the late John Magufuli

Reporting numbers on coronavirus infections and deaths would be an about turn for the government that hasn’t done so since May last year when the then President John Magufuli’s administration played down the threat from the disease.

Since his death in March, new leader Samia Hassan has signaled a shift in policy by appointing an advisory team on how to tackle the pandemic and started a process to procure vaccines. 

The government hasn’t yet given numbers on the disease, though.

“Publication of such data would be a precondition of moving ahead,” said Jens Reinke, the IMF’s resident representative in Tanzania. “In order to justify emergency financing in the context of the pandemic, you need to publish relevant public-health data.”

The government first asked the IMF for a loan under its Rapid Credit Facility in March last year, he said by phone. 

Negotiations never progressed, and the government said last month it had revived the request.

Tanzania could access as much as $574 million given its current IMF quota, or double that if the lender’s board approves a proposed new general allocation of special drawing rights to further help countries deal with the consequences of the pandemic.

The government will make a statement on its coronavirus response once it has considered the advice from its Covid-19 technical committee, chief spokesman Gerson Msigwa said by phone.

The nation doesn’t face an immediate balance of payments crisis, so Hassan’s administration would seek to justify the request on the basis of needing to finance its response to the impact of Covid-19. Early talks have started, said Reinke.

“We are exploring ways for the financing to go toward the government response to the public-health crisis, and maybe also to support vulnerable sectors like tourism,” he said, adding that the previous government had neglected investment in other sectors like health, education, and sanitation." He said. 

He added that the government is reaching out to not only just us to kick-start investment in that.

Tanzania government last week approved the importation of Covid-19 vaccines to the country for the first time.

President Hassan announced that international organizations and embassies are now allowed to bring in the vaccines so that their employees and citizens can receive the jabs.

"Embassies and International Organizations have been allowed to bring in the vaccine for their citizens and workers to comply with the procedures of their countries and organizations as well as to eliminate disturbance in their work because of not being vaccinated," she said.

The move is seen as a bid to have international organizations and embassies comply with the set procedures in their respective countries.

She however announced that the vaccines would be delivered in a manner that will be coordinated by Tanzania’s health ministry.