Tanzania’s 2016-2017 budget has been provisionally set at TZS 29.5 trillion, representing a 30% increasing from TZS 22.5 trillion included in the on going budget for 2015-2016.
According to the 2016-2017 budget framework presented this week by Tanzania’s Finance and Planning Minister Hon. Philip Mpango, about 60% of the budget (TZS 17.7 trillion) will be focused in recurrent expenditures, while the remaining 40% (TZS 11.8 trillion) will be dedicated to development projects.
Tanzania plans to increase spending on industrial and infrastructure projects while reducing the budget deficit, Minister Mpango explained.
Mpango also indicated that one of the major challenges in the implementation of development projects is the suspension and delays of funds delivery by international donors, resulting from unmatched conditions attached to the support.
For this reason the Tanzanian government is aiming at reducing its dependence in donors’ support and plans to increase tax collection in 2016-2017 by 22.7% to TZS 15.1 trillion from the TZS 12.3 trillion target in tax revenues in 2015-2016.
Since his appointment as the 4th President of Tanzania in November 2015, Dr. John Magufuli has encouraged Tanzanians to stop relying on conditional loans from foreign donors and cultivate a culture of working hard.
In line with this, the current government has taken a number of austerity measures aimed at cutting down government spending and boosting tax revenues collection.