FOR the first time in history, the Zanzibar government yesterday unveiled its 1tr/- budget framework for the 2017/18 financial year.
With an increase of over 200bn/- from
the previous 841bn/- budget of 2015/2016, the 2017/2018 Fiscal Year
government revenue and expenditure estimates were intended to improve
lives of the people.
Speaking ahead of House of
Representatives budgetary sessions, the Minister for Finance and
Planning, Dr Khalid Salum Mohamed, said the budget had been projected at
1.08tri/-.
“The government is expected to spend
1.08tr/- in financial year 2017/2018, including 590.8bn/- to be spent on
running the government’s day-to-day activities while 496.6bn/- will be
spent on development projects,” he explained.
The minister revealed that the budget
plan would cover seven priority areas, including improvement of social
services, health, education, housing and clean water.
Other priority areas include
strengthening the tourism sector, infrastructure, developing entry
points (including ports and air ports), good governance and investments
in small and medium industries to curb unemployment.
The Minister said the government
expected to collect 675bn/- from domestic sources and incomes. Tanzania
Revenue Authority (TRA) is expected to collect 258 bn/- while Zanzibar
Revenue Board (ZRB) is assigned to collect 347 bn/-.
An estimated 69 bn/- will be drawn from
other local sources. He further explained that development partners were
expected to contribute 380bn/- , 82bn/- would be in the form of grants
and the remaining 298bn/- would be loans.
Dr Khalid, however, pointed out that for
the 2017/2018 FY, the government is not expected to receive General
Budget Support (GBS).
The minister said that in order to
ensure that collection targets were met, the government would strengthen
revenue collection systems and curb loopholes for revenue leakages.
Dr Mohamed said Zanzibar’s economy was
growing at 6.8 per cent. He called on investors to grab investment
opportunities that the isles offered.
The minister urged the people to work hard, stressing that, this was the surest guarantee of enabling them to conquer poverty.
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