Friday, July 1, 2016

Growth to pick up to 7.4 pct in 2017 - BoT

Dar es Salaam, Thursday
BANK of Tanzania said on Tuesday it expects economic growth to accelerate to 7.4 per cent in 2017 from an estimated 7.2 per cent this year, driven by construction, communications and finance.
The Tanzanian economy, East Africa’s second-biggest, grew 7 per cent last year.
“The macroeconomic objectives of the government aim at achieving a real gross domestic product growth of 7.3 per cent in 2016/17 based on the projected growth of 7.2 per cent in 2016 and 7.4 per cent in 2017, while maintaining inflation at single digits,” the Bank of Tanzania said in its latest monetary policy statement.
“The bank will continue pursuing prudent monetary policy in 2016/17 to keep inflation close to the medium-term target of 5 per cent, while ensuring that the liquidity level is consistent with demands of various economic activities.”
Tanzania’s year-on-year headline inflation rate edged up to 5.2 percent in May from 5.1 percent in April, as prices rose for non-food items. The government said it plans to increase spending by 31 percent in its 2016/17 fiscal year to $13.51 billion to finance infrastructure and industrial projects. Tanzania has maintained strong economic growth despite global economic headwinds.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) preliminary estimates suggest that the economy grew by 7 per cent in 2015, with activity particularly buoyant in the construction, communication, finance and transportation sectors. Growth is expected to remain close to 7 per cent in 2016.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the economy grew 7.1 per cent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of last year compared with 4.1 per cent in the same period a year before due to faster growth in communications, mining and financial services.
The information and communications sector grew 23 per cent in the final quarter, while public administration and defence expanded 20 per cent. Financial services and insurance grew 14 per cent and mining and quarrying grew by 11 per cent.

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