Economy tipped for strong growth
thecitizen.co.tz
Feb 12, 2018 9:59 AM
In Summary
Speaking during an economic forum for Barclays Bank Tanzania (BBT) customers, a research specialist from Barclays Africa Group, Ms Samantha Singh, said Tanzania would continue being one of the best performing economies on the continent.
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Barclays Africa Group says Tanzaniaβs economy is growing at 7.2 per cent, this year, citing agriculture and massive investment in infrastructure as major driving factors.
Speaking during an economic forum for Barclays Bank Tanzania (BBT) customers, a research specialist from Barclays Africa Group, Ms Samantha Singh, said Tanzania would continue being one of the best performing economies on the continent.
βIn the short term, Tanzaniaβs economy will be driven by agriculture β with forecast for good weather β while in the long term, investment in narrowing the countryβs infrastructure gap will give the economy a new boost,β she said.
Currently, much of the investment in infrastructure will come from the public sector, but Barclays Africa Group believes that with time, well coordinated public private partnerships (PPPs) in the area will be driving the economy.
According to the Barclays Africa Group, Tanzaniaβs inflation will remain between 4 and 5 per cent this year and that country will also have foreign exchange reserves, which will be enough to cover 5.6 months of imports.
The forum β which was held at the weekend β gave a platform for BBT to explain to some of its key clients, the highlights of the bankβs unaudited 2017 financial statements.
BBT was one of the best performing commercial banks in the country last year after rising from a loss of Sh8.7 billion to generating a Sh10.9 billion profit in 2017.
The bank registered increases in both interest and non-interest income streams with the former climbing from Sh42.8 billion in 2016 to Sh50.668 billion in 2017 while the latter improved to Sh36.98 billion from Sh30.678 billion, according to figures β produced at the event by the BBT chief finance officer, Mr Obedi Laiser.
BBT also managed to bring down its Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) of total gross loans ratio to 8.5 in 2017 from 11 per cent in 2016.
The BBT managing director, Mr Abdi Mohammed attributed the growth to ongoing efforts to improve service delivery.
βWe have invested in easier ways of doing business with our customers. We have invested in people and in technology and we are also leveraging on our status as a subsidiary of a banking giant,β he said.
Looking forward, he harboured hopes that the bank will perform even better in 2018.
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