DODOMA: AS of January 2024, internal revenue collections, including those from Local Government Authorities (LGAs), increased to 17.2tri/-, equivalent to 95.9 per cent of the
set target to collect 17.9tri/- during the corresponding period in the 2022/23 financial year.The Minister for Finance Dr Mwigulu Nchemba, told lawmakers on Monday that out of the collected revenue, the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) collected 15.2tri/-, equal to 97.9 per cent of the target to collect 15.5tri/-.
Revenue collected by ministries, independent departments, state agencies, and institutions totaled 1.4tri/-, while collections from LGAs were 654.1bn/-.
Dr Nchemba was speaking during a special meeting of all MPs to highlight the implementation of the 2023/24 national budget that was approved in this financial year, reaching its climax on June 30, 2024.
During the 2023/24 financial year, parliament approved 44.4tri/- in both recurrent and development expenditures.
According to the minister, the implementation of the approved budget was superb, and by June 30, 2024, great strides will have been made.
During the year, the government planned to secure a loan amounting to 5.4tri/- from internal sources. Out of this, 1.9tri/- was for implementation, while 3.5tri/- was for the payment of matured bonds.
For the period between July 2023 and January 2024, the government secured 2.8tri/-, equivalent to 84.7 per cent of the expected loan of 3.3tri/-.
The government spent 1.7tri/- of the loan to pay for the matured bonds and 1tri/- for financing development projects.
Speaking of spending, the minister said during the corresponding period, the government spent 27.3tri/-, with 5.8tri/- going to salaries, 5.8tri/- for serving government debt, 4.3tri/- on funding government activities, and 11.4tri/- on financing development activities.
Some achievements recorded during the implementation of the budget include payment of salaries to public servants on time, serving government debt accordingly, continuing to provide loans to higher learning students, and implementing the provision of free education, whereby a total of 233bn/- was spent to benefit 2,815,087 secondary students and 12,388,118 primary school pupils.
Another achievement was continuing to fund strategic projects, including the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and purchasing 17 electric locomotives, out of which the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) has so far received four and conducted travel trials.
According to the minister, during the remaining four months until June 2024, the government will continue applying several measures in revenue collection, including intensifying defense and security at all borders by conducting frequent patrols to seal loopholes for tax evasion and controlling smuggling.
“The government will equally insist on the use of ICT systems in making follow-ups on the amount of tax that should be paid by business people, increasing registration in the number of taxpayers, and registering for VAT via different campaigns,” he said.
Additionally, he added, the Head of State had pumped financial resources into various productive sectors and social services provision, as well as continuing to provide opportunities to the private sector in implementing development projects initiated by the government.
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