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- Aug 2, 2010
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By In2EastAfrica - Wed Apr 13, 1:41 pm
The government said on Monday that the power crisis was not the only factor behind low revenue collections in the country.
Finance deputy minister Gregory Teu made the clarification in Parliament when responding to a basic question posed by Special Seats lawmaker Grace Kiwelu (Chadema). In her question, the MP had claimed that the power crisis facing different parts of the country had negatively impacted on both national and individual incomes.
I want the government to explain the magnitude of revenue loss triggered by power shortages, she said. In his response, Teu said low revenue collection had not been caused by power crisis alone, insisting that there were many other factors behind it, including the slow pace in the growth of the economy, external business pressure and reluctance to pay tax.
Instead, he said revenue collection when power shortage was critical (from December last year to February this year) was impressive.
Citing an example, Teu said the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) targeted to collect 1.24tn/- over the period, but managed to collect 1.2tn/-, equivalent to 98 per cent of the set target.
Under such circumstances, its not correct to link the two per cent deficit to the power rationing that occurred between December 2010 and February 2011, he explained.
In a supplementary question, Kigoma North MP Kabwe Zitto blamed the government over its failure to provide clear figures indicating how revenue collections had been affected by the persistent power crisis.
By Judica Tarimo,
