Africa-Press – Tanzania. PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has said that she is satisfied with the direction the country is moving in, saying so far so good.
Reflecting on her first 100 days in office, President Samia, revelled in the progress and milestones achieved in all key sectors, saying some of the feats came as a surprise to her.
She was buoyant, insisting that the future was bright and the country’s economy was on the right track amid Covid-19 pandemic effects and other challenges.
“So far so good, I’m happy to see the country moving in the right direction even with the challenges that continue to hover over us,” she said.
President Samia, who was responding to questions posed to her by Editors and Media practitioners in a televised meeting at State House in Dar es Salaam yesterday, however admitted that it was indeed tough running a country.
Taking stock of her Presidency in 100 days, she described how tough it was running and managing the country’s top most office, saying it calls for utmost support from other players to succeed.
“That’s why I don’t work alone…I have a number of aides who keep me grounded on a daily basis at State House,” she revealed. Heading the office of the President requires the holder to be acquainted with all issues facing the country, said Ms Samia.
The Head of State further revealed how she handles between 25 to 30 files that pile up her desk daily.
“I have to clear all the files, only those that can be handled by my aides, I delegate to them,” she said.
She further revealed that it wasn’t a heavy burden, taking over from the departed fifth-phase President Dr John Magufuli since she was well grilled.
“I was fully prepared with the tough job facing me,” she recalled.
The President further paid tribute to her predecessor for helping her learn the ropes. President Samia assured the editors that the country was in safe hands, appealing support from the members of the fourth estate.
She expressed her delight in seeing the country stable and persevering amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, Ms Samia said the country’s foreign exchange reserves remained high and sufficient to cover almost six months of projected imports of goods and services.
She said Tanzania foreign exchange reserves remain high at 4,969.7 million US dollars. The import cover was within the country benchmark and East African Community (EAC) convergence criteria of at least 4 months and 4.5 months, respectively.
She said the economy has started to gain momentum after being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, currently growing at 5.5 per cent, compared to 4.8 per cent registered last year and 7.0 per cent in 2019. Inflation has continued to remain within the single digit range where it declined from an average of 3.4 per cent in 2019 to 3.3 per cent in 2020. In addition, inflation reached 3.3 per cent in May this year compared to 3.2 per cent last May.
Inflation trends have remained relatively stable due to steady supply of food, falling oil prices on the international world market, stability of the Tanzanian shilling against the US dollar and other major convertible currencies as well as effective implementation of monetary and fiscal policies.
Ms Samia also said the shilling has remained stable against US dollar during the period under review, which is a sign that the economy is performing well despite shocks of the pandemic. The shilling, year-to-yesterday, has almost remained at the same level against the US dollars as in January was exchanged at 2.309/90 a greenback compared to 2,310/30 yesterday.
Presenting the economic survey 2020 report and the national development plan 2021/22 to the Parliament in Dodoma recently, Finance and Planning Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba said the value of the Tanzanian shilling against the US dollar has remained stable, whereas one US dollar was exchanged for an average of shillings 2,298.5 in April 2021, compared to an average of shillings 2,291.3 in April 2020.
The stability of shilling was a result of various measures undertaken by the government in implementing monetary and fiscal policies as well as a decline in current account deficit. Similarly, measures undertaken by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) in ensuring transparency in the foreign exchange market operations contributed to the stability of the shilling against other major currencies in the world.
He said the banking sector continued to remain stable with the ratio of liquid assets to demand liabilities of 29.63 per cent in March this year which is above the minimum regulatory requirement of 20 per cent.
The ratio of Non -Performing Loans (NPLs) to gross loans decreased to 9.36 per cent in March this year from 10.50 per cent in March last year. Further, credit to the private sector grew by 4.8 per cent in April this year.
The growth of credit to the private sector is consistent with the monetary policy stance which aims at increasing liquidity in the economy and implementing the government plan to improve the business environment.
Ms Samia became the sixth President of Tanzania following the death of President Magufuli, from heart-related complications on March 17, this year. The 61-yearold served as President
