Africa-Press – Tanzania. ZANZIBAR President Hussein Mwinyi has pledged to effectively oversee 230bn/- extended to Zanzibar as part of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Covid-19 emergency financial assistance and ensure it is utilised for intended purpose.
Dr Mwinyi made the revelation during the launch of Tanzania Covid-19 Socio-economic Response Plan (TCRP) in Dodo- ma, on Sunday, noting that he will ensure the value for money is reflected in the execution of the various projects to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
“The plan entails how the country will spend 1.3tri/- IMF supported fund in development programmes for prosperity and fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
“These funds will be used to implement the set priority ar- eas and goals as per the requirements…in doing so, there will be due diligence in utilisation of the funds,” said Dr Mwinyi.
He acknowledged the IMF’s support of giving Tanzania the soft loans which have been provided under the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) and Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) to help curb the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country.
Equally, Dr Mwinyi extended appreciation to President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration for setting aside part of the funds for Zanzibar to deal with he effects of the pandemic.
According to him, launching of the TCRP was a clear reflection of President Samia’s efforts in observing principles of good governance in the country.
He noted that the efforts done by the government of Tanzania are highly recognised taking into account that many countries are struggling with recovery of their economies.
President Mwinyi observed that Covid-19 has affected all the key sectors in the develop- ment and particularly the global economy including Tanzania.
He outlined some of the sectors including transport, tourism, finance and social services like education, water and health among other productive sectors.
“While every country is cur- rently struggling to recover their economies, there has been huge competition in securing development funds for the countries and companies intending to invest.
The cooperation shown by IMF is indeed is a privilege for both the mainland and Zanzibar,” noted President Mwinyi.
He added that “the economy of Zanzibar has been largely af- fected taking into account that tourism sector is the backbone of Zanzibar’s economy.
“The tourism sector despite the fact that is backbone it has strong link with other sectors including agriculture, fishing, transport, finance, health, educa- tion and trade among many others which have all been affected by the pandemic.”
President Mwinyi pledged to continue collaborating with the mainland government in the fight against Covid-19.
