Publication: Tanzania Economic Update: The Efficiency and Effectiveness of Fiscal Policy in Tanzania
Loading...
Date
2023-10-11
ISSN
Published
2023-10-11
Author(s)
Editor(s)
Abstract
Global growth is projected to slow significantly in 2023 as continued monetary tightening constrains the credit supply. Tanzania’s economy has performed relatively well despite a challenging external environment. The government recognizes that a dynamic private sector fueled both by domestic and international investment is crucial to increase productivity, accelerate job creation, and support more inclusive and resilient growth. Tanzania has several macroeconomic advantages that could support a successful transition to middle-income status. Tanzania’s most urgent reform priorities include measures to improve efficiency and effectiveness of expenditure programs and boost tax-revenue mobilization. The government should assess and regulate budget transfers to state-owned enterprises to ensure their sustainability. An analysis of the implementation capacity of ministries with low expenditure execution rates could inform efforts to improve procurement systems and strengthen monitoring and evaluation. The government should adjust VAT, corporate income tax, and excise tax rates to increase revenue mobilization, and excise taxes on tobacco should be reevaluated to balance revenue and public health objectives. Strengthening taxation on wealthier households is vital to improve the equity of the tax system. Reinforcing the tax administration’s auditing capacity will be necessary to boost collection efficiency and enhance distributional equity, and registration thresholds should also be adjusted to broaden the tax base. The Commitment to Equity (CEQ) methodology could be used to assess the impact of proposed fiscal policy changes on household income, poverty, and inequality.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“World Bank. 2023. Tanzania Economic Update: The Efficiency and Effectiveness of Fiscal Policy in Tanzania. Tanzania Economic Update; Issue 19. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/40452 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Tanzania Economic Update, October 2012(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2012-10)Tanzania continues to stand out as a model of sound economic performance in the African continent, with a growth rate of over six per cent in 2011 and 2012, surpassing other regional economies and demonstrating impressive resilience to the global economic crisis. This is the second issue of the Tanzania economic update series. The series aim to engage a broad audience in a discussion of the state of the economy in general, as well as in specific debates of topical importance in Tanzania. The current issue seeks to get the discussion going on how to achieve the structural transformation of the rural economy so that rural households can also benefit from the country's remarkable growth performance.Publication Tanzania Economic Update : Opening the Gates - How the Port of Dar es Salaam Can Transform Tanzania(Washington, DC, 2013-05)The wide media coverage of the series as well as the interest in the blog show that the debate has been gradually moving from ministerial corridors to the public arena. This latest update foresees that the Tanzanian economy will maintain its resilience by continuing to grow at about 7 percent in the coming years. If some clouds are looming on the external and fiscal horizons, the update argues that the risks they pose should be manageable. The majority of the country s top 100 mid-size enterprises believe that 2013 will be better than 2012; and 2014 better than 2013. Nevertheless, a growing consensus today is that Tanzania needs to rely more than today on private enterprises to achieve faster and more equitable growth, as private enterprises are the ones that can provide jobs, build infrastructure, and bring new technology to the local economy. Many actions are needed on the policy front, especially to improve the business environment. Tanzania has gradually opened its economy since the early 2000s; it is also true that business coming in and going out of the country remains costly. To reduce trade costs, the priority should be to transform the Port of Dar es Salaam. An efficient port is critical because approximately 90 percent of Tanzania s international trade goes through its gates. This is a welcome development for local and regional consumers and firms that heavily depend on the performance of the port in their daily endeavors.Publication Tanzania Economic Update, December 2013 : Raising the Game--Can Tanzania Eradicate Extreme Poverty?(Washington, DC, 2013-12)The special focus of this fourth economic update is as much a concern for policymakers as for ordinary citizens. This economic update discusses a bold new way of lessening extreme poverty by transferring cash directly to the most vulnerable people. In Tanzania, the success of a similar program piloted by the Tanzania Social Action Fund (TASAF), which includes conditional cash transfers as well as public works for productive infrastructure, is also very encouraging as shown by an independent evaluation. Although cash transfers are promising, as this update discusses, there are risks associated with implementation on a large scale. It will be essential to ensure effective targeting and sound monitoring. And the decision to scale up needs to be embedded in strategic thinking about medium-term fiscal sustainability. The economic update also discusses the state of the economy more broadly. Strong and stable economic growth and gradually declining inflation have been the hallmarks of Tanzania's recent economic performance. Tanzania needs to strike the right balance between making large capital investments and maintaining fiscal discipline. Tanzania needs to maintain fiscal discipline and continue to keep the country's debt and debt-service at acceptable levels to consolidate the gains achieved over the past decade. In this context, the report is organized in two parts: part one is the state of the economy; and part two is money to people: can conditional cash transfers make a difference?Publication Tanzania Economic Update : Who Wants a Job?(Washington, DC, 2014-06)This fifth economic update also examines prospects for economic prosperity in the context of rapid urbanization; in particular, how the growth of cities can be harnessed to create productive jobs for a labor force that is expected to double in the next 15 years. By 2030, Dar es Salaam will be a mega city of over 10 million people. As demonstrated by many countries in the world, cities encourage the creation and expansion of businesses by reducing distances between suppliers and customers. Can Dar es Salaam and other Tanzanian urban areas become thriving cities? Can they avoid becoming metropolis slums? Urbanization comes with significant challenges, notably in terms of increased pressure on infrastructure, housing, and service provision. The quality of the business climate in urban Tanzania will need to be improved, as most small and large entrepreneurs suffer from the uncertainty, corruption, and insecurity that characterize the business environment. This economic update argues that these challenges need to be addressed with a sense of urgency.Publication Tanzania Economic Update, May 2016(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-05)The Tanzanian economy has grown at an average annual rate of around 6-7 percent for more than a decade. The rate of inflation has declined since January 2016, although it trended upwards in thepreceding few months due to increases in domestic food prices and the lagged impacts of the sharp depreciation of the Tanzanian Shilling during the first half of 2015. However, the Shilling stabilized in the second half of 2015, with the real exchange rate now close to the equilibrium level. The current account deficit has also improved, standing at around 8.7 percent of GDP in 2014/15. The level of aid inflows declined during 2014/15, although this was offset by increases in FDI and external non-concessional borrowing, maintaining the overall balance of payments in a stable position. Tanzania's infrastructure and social services deficits are already massive and projected to increase into the future. Traditional financing instruments are clearly insufficient to bridge the profound gap between existing public resources and financing requirements. By leveraging synergy between the public and private sectors, PPPs can mobilize additional sources of finance to fund the development of vitally needed infrastructure; to deliver on budget and on time to a greater extent than in the case of publicly financed projects; and to deliver higher quality services than in the case of publicly managed projects. Tanzania’s own policy documents identify PPP as a key instrument to attract new investment and to deliver infrastructure more efficiently.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
No results found.