The Parliament of Tanzania has approved that the Government increases its national budget for the financial year 2021/22 by more than TZS 1.3 trillion, from TZS 36.66 trillion up to TZS 37.98 trillion.
Presenting proposals for the additional budget on behalf of the Minister of Finance and Planning, Hon. Mwigulu Lameck Nchemba, the Minister of Home Affairs Hon. Hamad Yussuf Masaun said that the Government received an interest-free loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) worth TZS 1.3 trillion equivalent to USD 567.3 million.
Hin. Masauni said the money received was not part of the budget approved by Parliament in 2021/22 so the Government is responsible under section 43 of the Budget Act, Chapter 439 and Article 137 (2) of the Constitution of Tanzania, to submit to parliament a proposal to seek the consent of Parliament to spend the extra money.
He added that the money will be used to protect Tanzanians against Covid-19 and stimulate economic and social activities affected by the pandemic, in mainland Tanzania and the islands.
“Of that amount, TZS 1,079.6 billion is for mainland Tanzania, and TZS 231.0 billion is for Zanzibar” Hon. Masauni said.
He also clarified that the use of such funds will be used in accordance with the priorities spelled out in the national budget for the financial year 2021/22 where the health sector received TZS 466.9 billion, education TZS 368.9 billion, water TZS 139.4 billion, tourism TZS 90.2 billion, and the Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF) TZS 5.5 billion.
The Tanzanian Budget 2021/22
In June 2021, the parliament of Tanzania approved the Central Government Budget of TZS 36.68 trillion for the financial year 2021-2022.
The total budget has been increased by 5% from TZS 34.88 trillion allocated in the 2020-2021 budget.
The budget is mainly financed by domestic revenues for TZS 26.0 trillion (71%), grants from development partners for TZS 2.9 trillion (8%), domestic loans for TZS 5.0 trillion (14%), and conditional external commercial loans for TZS 2.4 trillion (7%).
Most of the budget (63%) will be allocated for recurrent expenditure, while 37% will be destined for development projects.
