Tanzania to spend $3b to service debts - Finance Minister

DODOMA, Tanzania

The government of Tanzania is planning to spend a total of $3.9 billion (Sh9.09 trillion) on debt servicing during the financial year 2022/23, it has been revealed.

The revelation was made in Parliament on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, by the minister for Finance and Planning, Mwigulu Nchemba.

The amount is part of the $6.4 billion (Sh14.94 trillion) that he requested the Parliament to endorse for his ministry’s budget for the next financial year that is set to kick off on July 1.

Nchemba (pictured above) said out of the $6.4 billion, some $5.8 billion (Sh13.62 trillion) are meant for recurrent expenditures, with the rest being channeled into development projects.  

In another development, the minister said the Tanzania Agriculture Development Bank (TADB) is planning to disburse $33.5 million (Sh78 billion) worth of loans to the manufacturing sector during the next financial year.  

The loan, he explained, will target particularly those dealing with cooking oil and sugar in Kigoma, Shinyanga and Manyara Regions.  

“The initiative is meant to narrow the cooking oil and sugar shortage gap in the country,” he told legislators.

Dr Nchemba further revealed that the bank was planning to dish out a Sh130 billion loan for the purchase of cotton and coffee. - The Citizen