Tanzania's economy grew by 6.9 per cent last year, the highest among five East African Community member countries.It was an improvement on the 6.4 per cent growth recorded in 2011.
The region’s biggest economy, Kenya grew at 4.7 per cent up from 2011’s 4.4 per cent.
The figures were revealed yesterday by the Minister of State in the President Office Responsible for Social Relations and Coordination, Stephen Wasira, when tabling in Parliament the state of the economy for 2012 and annual development plan for 2013/14 financial year.
Minister Wasira told the House that while Tanzanian and Kenyan economies were on the rise, those of the rest of the East African Community states were on the decline.
“Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda economic growth rates declined from 8.6 per cent, 4.2 and 6.7 in 2011 to 7.7 per cent, 4.0 and 2.6 in 2012 respectively,” noted Wasira.
Wasira added: “According to analysis, conducted by the Institute of Business Insider of USA, based on World Bank estimates, Tanzania is among the twenty countries with the highest projected compounded annual growth rates from 2013 to 2015”.
He said the EU-economic Commission for Africa report of 2013 shows that Tanzania is among ten fastest growing economies in Africa, recording at least 7 per cent growth in league with Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Ghana and Zambia.
Despite the high performance, the Minister conceded that inflation rose to 16 percent from 12. 7 recorded in 2011.
“This rate of price increase was caused by rising oil prices in the world market and food prices, in part due to growing demand for food in neighbouring countries.
The index of food prices accounted for most of the overall sharp rise of inflation, as food constitutes half of the goods and services in the consumer goods basket used to compute inflation,” the minister said.
Wasira said measures to tame inflation included ensuring sufficient food supply, expanding cultivation of food crops and increasing availability of agricultural inputs, particularly fertilizer, pesticides and improved seeds and enhancing food security by increasing grains purchase through National Food Reserve Agency and construction of more silos.
According to the minister the value of goods and services exported rose by 15.5 per cent from $7,398.2 million in 2011 to $8,544.4 million in 2012, mainly to an increase in traditional exports particularly coffee, cotton and tobacco and increase in the export of manufactured goods, flowers fish and fish products.
The value of the imports and services increased increased by 5.1 per cent from $9,827.5 million in 2011 to $10,324.9 million in 2012, due to importation of capital, intermediate and consumer goods.
Foreign Direct Investment for 2012 was $1,806 million compared to $1,330 million, in 2011, an increase attributed to drilling of more wells for gas, which rose from three in 2011 to ten 2012.
SOURCE:
THE GUARDIAN
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