AfricaPress-Tanzania: ZANZIBAR’s national debt grew slightly to 816bn/- as of March 2020, an increase of 816m/- from 815bn/-, which was recorded in March 2019.
Finance and Planning Minister Ambassador Mohamed Ramia Abdiwawa, moving the ministry’s 2020/2021 budget estimates here on Tuesday, said the external debt was 660.8bn/-, a 2.6 percent decline from 678.4bn/- of March 2019.
He explained that 95.76 percent of the external debt is under the union government guarantee with the revolutionary government covering 4.24 percent of the total portfolio.
The domestic debt increased by 13.3 percent from 137.52bn/- to 155.8bn/- during the period under review, the minister told the house, attributing the debt surge to 26.3bn/- new loan from Zanzibar Social Security Fund (ZSSF)
However, the government serviced matured loans to ZSSF amounting to 4.62bn/- and People’s Bank of Zanzibar’s (PBZ) 3.27bn/-.
Meanwhile, the country’s infrastructure development fund collected 26.52bn/- during the nine-month period, equivalent to 65 percent of the annual target to collect 41bn/-.
Zanzibar Revenue Board and Tanzania Revenue Authority collected 17.91bn/- and 8.6bn/-, respectively, said the minister, adding that during the 2019/2020 financial year, 17 projects were scheduled for funding.
As of March 2020, execution of 15 projects out of the envisaged 17, had consumed 21.25bn/-, the minister told the house.
