MAUREEN ODUNGA
THE government has collected 13.4tri/- which is equivalent to 96.6 per cent of the revenue collection target for the first half of the 2022/2023 financial year, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa has said.
The PM said that the revenue collected from internal sources between July and December in 2022 consisted of 11.68tri/- (equivalent to 98.1 percent) collected by Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) and non-tax revenues of 1.26tri/- (equivalent to 86.3 percent) and 458.6bn/- (equivalent to 89.7 percent) accumulated from local government collections.
Mr Majaliwa revealed this while winding up the 10th Parliament meeting in the capital Dodoma, yesterday indicating that implementation of the budget during the period has continued to be strengthened.
According to him, during the period under review a total of 19.46tri/- (91.7 percent of the target) was approved for expenditure of which 12.29tri/- (equivalent to 93.2 percent) was for recurrent expenditure and 7.17tri/- (95.1 percent) was the development budget.
“The implementation of the budget has contributed to the economic growth by 5.2 per cent as well as accessibility of funds for servicing various government activities,” said Mr Majaliwa.
The budget also enabled execution of different key strategic projects like the Standard Gauge Railway, Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP), and construction of Kigongo Busisi Bridge and development of Mtumba government city project.
Others success are rehabilitation of various infrastructures such as that of energy, roads, airports, water services, ports, agriculture and irrigation.
The Premier further said that the budget implementation also enabled the government to provide subsidies on fertilizers oil products with the aim of controlling inflation and provide relief to the citizens.
He said improved efficiency in revenue collection was recorded during the said period whereby revenue collection growth reached 12.2 per cent while electronic revenue collection systems has improved thus reducing leakage in all tax administration systems
The PM further said four union matters were resolved and contributed in the effective execution of the National Population and Housing Census of 2022.
The Premier also revealed various challenges which impeded the budget execution including issues of drought caused by climate change, thereby affecting livestock keeping, crop production, power generation, access to water service in various areas across the country.
Among others include a large section of the informal sector which does not effectively meet its financial obligation.
The rest are poor respond by land and property owners in paying rent and other government charges, limited participation of the private sector in the implementation of development projects and rising transportation costs of products and services from abroad.
He outlined the product including petrol products, edible and cooking oil and fertilizers which has been pushed by the rising in needs in many countries globally.
Mr Majaliwa further expressed the government commitment to ensure that it attain its economic targets by taking various measures including implementation of the government’s ambitious plan on Environmental Management and Conservation of 2021 and drilling of large wells and dams to support various human and economic activities.
The Premier also observed expansion of the tax base by scaling up registration of new taxpayers including online business and the informal sector.
Likewise, he noted the strengthening electronic systems, improvement of land and property owners’ database as per the recent Population and Housing Census.
Initiatives like facilitation of the private sector to productively carry out their activities in reducing dependency and importing products from abroad and keenly following up on the global business landscape by taking advantage of the opportunities which have resulted from the impacts of Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
As such, the government has embarked on amendment various laws, whereby two Bills were tabled for the first time before the parliament which will play a major role to economic development upon approval.
He noted, that the Bill for an Act to amend certain written Laws in order to keep the Laws updated with some challenges observed in its implementation 2023, will facilitate the improvement of rules and eliminate shortfalls in implementation of the Architects and Quantity Surveyors Act, and Media Service Act.
It will further facilitate implementation of the Medical Stores Act, the National Leaders’ Funerals Act, the Railways Act, the Tanzania Forestry Research Institute Act, the Treasury Registrar Ordinance and the Value Added Tax Act.
He said the Bill for an Act to amend the public private partnership Act in order to address some challenges which were encountered during its implementation 2023, will facilitate participation of the private sector in implementation of different government development projects.
“The government will continue to control unnecessary expenditure in meeting the expected budgetary goals…I urge ministries and public institutions to taking into account of the key priorities in National Development Plan of (2023/2024) while preparing the budget of the various areas,” noted the PM.
He directed all councils whose revenues are not protected under 2bn/- to allocate 20 percent for development projects along with the 10 percent allocation for women, youth and people with disabilities.
Again, regional commissioners have urged to effectively supervise implementation of development project in their respective areas so as to reflect the value for money.
No comments :
Post a Comment