In Summary
While the budget is surging, we see no evidence that the government has imposed austerity measures to reduce spending.
The government plans to collect and spend a
total of roughly $10 billion (Sh22 trillion, according to the current
exchange rate), during the fiscal year 2015/16. According to Finance
minister Saada Mkuya, the government also wants to reduce donor
dependency to eight per cent--the lowest in the last three decades.
The latest budget is bigger than the previous one
by Sh22.48 trillion. During the 2014/15 fiscal year, the government
tabled a Sh19.8 trillion budget. In the 2015/16 budget, we are told, at
least Sh14.82 trillion of the Sh22.48 trillion will be sourced
internally, with efforts being directed towards enhancing the use of
electronic fiscal devices (EFDs) in order to seal loopholes for revenue
leakages. Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) alone will be required to
collect Sh13.35 trillion, reflecting 90.1 per cent of the total domestic
revenue.
While the budget is surging, we see no evidence
that the government has imposed austerity measures to reduce spending.
The budget is structured so that only 20 per cent goes to development
and 80 per cent is allocated to other expenditure.
Though there has been a public outcry over
unnecessary spending by this administration, it is disturbing that the
proposed budget does not state clearly how the government will cut
expenditure to cope with the few resources available.
We still have fuel guzzlers on our roads nearly
five years after we were promised that these luxury vehicles would be
withdrawn. A lot of money is still being spent on unproductive foreign
trips. Fraud and corruption are rampant. They cost this nation dearly.
If the government does not curb the current
spending spree in order to manage the situation, staggering data will
mean little or nothing to us. It is time the government introduced
austerity measures to reduce spending. Most of our money should be spent
on development projects.
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