THE total import of goods and services decreased to 9,687.4 million US dollars in the year ending July from 10,185.8 million US dollars in the corresponding period a year earlier.
According to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) monthly economic review for August, all categories of imports increased, with the exception of transport equipment, machinery, oil and fertilizer, which decreased slightly.
The oil imports accounted for 18.7 per cent of goods import, having decreased by 13.3 per cent to 1,507.1 million US dollars due to a decline in oil prices in the world market.
On monthly basis, import bill for goods decreased slightly to 620.3 million US dollars in July this year, from 765.2 million US dollars in the corresponding month last year, partly reflecting disruption of global supply chain following the outbreak of Covid- 19.
In the month under review, the global oil supply fell by 2.4 mb/d in June, to a nine-year low of 86.9 mb/d.
The robust compliance with the OPEC+ output deal and steep declines from other producers, led by the United States and Canada to cut world oil output by nearly 14 mb/d since April.
Moreover, the global oil demand fell by 16.4 mb/d year-on-year as lockdowns were imposed to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
The recent increase in Covid-19 cases and the introduction of partial lockdowns introduces more uncertainty to the forecast.
According to the central bank report, the services payment amounted to 1,582.9 million US dollars in year ending July this year, lower than 1,729.1 million US dollars in the year ending July last year, driven by travel payment that declined by 29.2 per cent to 441.3 million US dollars.
On monthly basis, services payment declined by 39.6 per cent to 87.2 million US dollars in July this year from the amount recorded in the corresponding month in 2019.
The decline was explained by low travel payments associated with the outbreak of Covid-19 and containment measures that included travel restrictions and flight cancellations.
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