Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIA is set to easily meet its 5.0 per cent economic growth target, buoyed by the first three-quarters remarkable performance despite coronavirus’ negative consequences.
The economy last year grew by 4.9 per cent in the first quarter, then 4.5 per cent in the second quarter before climbing to 5.2 per cent in the third that needs 5.5 per cent in the fourth quarter to seal the GDP growth target for 2021.
Some economists told the ‘Daily News’ on Wedneday that looking at the first three quarters GDP data and economic activities for the last three months of the year the projected growth is obvious.
Economist-cum-investment banker, Dr Hildebrand Shayo said the growth is now being buoyed by different commodities such as gold and cashew nuts export placing the country’s economy at the top of the GDP growth tables’ target.
“Looking at data from NBS (National Bureau of Statistics), it is possible for Tanzania to eas- ily meet the target,” Dr Shayo said on Wednesday, adding:“While Tanzania’s prosperity is closely tied to the gold exporting markets, it remains one of the largest exporters of cashew nuts in the world, and coffee is also still a significant product”.
The NBS Third Quarter GDP report which used 2015 as a base year, attributed the growth mainly to contributions from construction sector (18.1 per cent), agriculture (15.1 per cent), mining and quarrying (11.4 per cent), manufacturing (8.6 per cent), public adminis- tration (5.8 per cent) and trade and repair (4.0 per cent)
.“All economic activities undertaken in the economy during the reference period contributed to the growth of 5.2 per cent compared to 4.4 per cent recorded in a similar period in 2020,” NBS said in the report.
In 2020 it grew by 4.8 per cent. Service sector activities accounted for the largest share to the GDP of 42.2 per cent in the third quarter in 2021, followed by primary activities by 30.3 per cent and secondary activities had the least share of 27.8 per cent.
“Shares to the GDP have been derived before adjustment for taxes,” NBS said. Dr Shayo said that the economy is not only driven by resources but also stable democracy and more favourable taxation structures which have started to bear fruits.
“It’s not just Tanzanian resources that are driving the economic uptick,” Dr Shayo said, insisting that “under a stable democracy, government initiatives to formalise the economy and introduce more favourable taxation structures is implemented more easily.”
Initiative to provide credit to the private sector is also being helped through policies aimed at diversifying the economy and preventing an overeliance on the commodity markets alone.
“(Thus) the future on GDP growth is obvious,” Dr Shayo said. For this year, the Interna- tional Monetary Fund (IMF) loan that according to President Samia Suluhu Hassan is the best of its own kind will boost GDP among other loans in the pipeline for strategic infrastructure projects. It will help to create a multiplier effect to the economy.
Last November, the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) said the economy was poised to grow steadily to reach 8.0 per cent in the next five years and hinges on positive increased utilization of resources and growth in productivity.
BoT Governor, Prof Florens Luoga said when addressing the 20th Conference of Financial Institutions (COFI) that the economy will be pushed by increased productivity and utilisation of raw material.
“Looking forward, the economy is poised to grow steadily, reaching more than 8.0 per cent in the next five years,” Prof Luoga said when addressing the COFI in Dodoma.
In his presentation at COFI, ‘Economic Growth and Sus- tainability during and beyond Covid-19: Priorities and Policy Options’, Prof Samwel Wangwe of Daima Associates highlighted six areas of priority for the econ- omy to surge forward beyond the pandemic.
“First, we need to prioritise our response to Covid-19 pandemic in the country through health, economic and several social aspects and decisions on the allocation of fiscal resources,” Prof Wangwe said.
Also, the country needs to reaffirm its focus on long-term development agenda—growth with transformation and inclusivity and reviving the interac- tion between social and econom- ic policy.
The economy in 2020 grew by 5.7 per cent in the first quarter, 4.0 per cent in the second, 4.5 per cent in the third, and 4.9 per cent in the fourth to give the year GDP average growth of 4.8 per cent.
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