Dar external trade deficit up by 66pc

[BAK]

Dar external trade deficit up by 66pc

By JOSEPH MWAMUNYANGE
THE EAST AFRICAN

Posted Friday, January 23 2009 at 22:35​

Tanzania’s external trade deficit for the year ending October 2008 rose by 66 per cent to $3,103.0 million from $1,859.2 million recorded the previous year.

The latest Bank of Tanzania Monthly Economic Review attribute this to a significant decline in official current transfers and an increase in imports.

During the period under review, imports increased by 30.1 per cent while exports rose by 21.3 per cent.

In the same period, current transfers declined to $518.2 million from $717.0 million recorded in the year ending October 2007.

On a monthly basis, exports declined to $390.6 million in October 2008 from July’s $402.4 million.

Likewise, imports fell to $720.7 million from $742.3 million in September 2008. Disbursement of official current transfers declined to $31.0 million in October from $214.9 million the previous month.

During the period under review, total exports rose to $4,471.4 million from the $3,687.4 million recorded the previous year.

Much of the increase was recorded in export of manufactured goods, which went up by 96.5 per cent to $564.3 million.

However, as a share of total exports, travel and gold receipts dominated the export sector accounting for 26.5 per cent and 20.9 per cent respectively.

Goods exports increased by 25 per cent to $2,498.9 million on account of the improved performance in traditional and non-traditional exports.

During the period under review, traditional and non-traditional exports recorded an increase of 24.1 per cent and 25.2 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, gold continued to dominate, accounting for 37.4 per cent of total goods export, followed by manufactured goods, which accounted for 22.6 per cent.

On an annual basis, non-traditional exports increased by 25.2 per cent to $2,123.7 million due to an impressive performance in manufactured goods exports, which rose to $564.3 million from $287.2 million the previous year.

Horticultural exports rose by 58.4 per cent to $29.8 million due to an expansion in horticultural production and improvements in the aviation industry.

On the other hand, gold exports rose by 14.7 per cent to $933.6 million following an increase in prices on the world market, while export volumes recorded a decline to 32.7 tonnes from 40.7 tonnes recorded the previous year.

During October 2008, exports of services increased marginally to $170.2 million from $166.1 million the previous month.

On an annual basis, services receipts continued to increase reaching $1,972.5 million in October 2008 from $1,688.3 million in the corresponding period a year before, following improvements in transportation, travel, insurance and other business services receipt.

Travel, which accounts for over 50 per cent of total service receipts, increased to $1,183.8 million from $1,040.7 million the previous year.

This development is partly a result of the ongoing promotional campaigns for Tanzania’s tourist attractions in the United States and the UK.