Z’bar current account deficit increases

 Daily News Reporter

ZANZIBAR: ZANZIBAR’s current account deficit increased to 417.0 million US dollars in

the period ending December last year from 354.9 million US dollars in the corresponding period in 2022 largely due to an increase in imports of goods and services.

According to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) monthly economic review for January, the imports of goods and services rose to 622.1 million US dollars from 555.6 million US dollars in the year ending December 2022 attributed to an increase in capital and intermediate categories of goods import.

The increase in imports of capital goods was largely associated with the ongoing infrastructure projects, while that of intermediate goods was mainly due rise in the volume of fuel and lubricant including refined white petroleum, food and beverage for industrial, and motorcars for households.

Consumer goods imports registered a decline of 4.6 per cent, with a notable decline observed in the categories of food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, and paper and paper products.

On a monthly basis, import of goods (free on board) and services amounted to 51.3 million US dollars compared to 42.7 million US dollars in December 2022.

During the period under review, the exports of goods and services went down slightly to 193.1 million US dollars in the year ending December from 195.3 million US dollars in the corresponding period in 2022.

This was mainly driven by the decline of 59.8 per cent in exports of cloves to 20.7 million, owing to the cyclical nature of the crop.

Meanwhile, service receipt, in particular tourism-related, rose by 20.5 per cent to 143.1 million US dollars following an increase in tourist arrivals. On month-to-month, the exports of goods and services rose to 20.7 million US dollars in December last year compared to 18.4 million US dollars in December 2022.