By Ludger Kasumuni
The Citizen Report
Dar es Salaam.
Zanzibar’s exports plunged 4.26 per cent during the year ending November because of a fall in price and export volume of cloves, data from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) shows.
The semi-autonomous Indian Ocean archipelago exported goods and services worth $182.1 million during the year to November 2012 as compared to exports valued at $190.2 million during the year to November 2011, the BoT said in its December 2012 Monthly Economic Review.
“This was mainly due to a decrease in the value of clove exports driven by a decrease in both the volume and average export price,” the central bank said in the review.
The volume of clove exports decreased from 2,900 metric tonnes in the year ending November 2011 to 2,800 metric tonnes during the year under review, while the average export price of cloves fell from $13,593.3 per tonne to $11,104.0 per tonne in the same period, according to the BoT report.
At the same time, the value of imports of goods and services increased to $311.2 million from $230.2 million recorded in the corresponding period in 2011.
BoT attributes this development to an increase in the value of capital goods for infrastructure developments as well as consumer goods.
According to BoT, in the year ending November 2012, services account registered a surplus of $29.6 million compared to a surplus of $38.2 million recorded in the corresponding period in 2011.
Zanzibar’s economy is hugely dependent on tourism and clove exports. During the same period, services receipt decreased slightly from $136.0 million to $135.7 million, mainly due to slow down in tourism related activities. Meanwhile, services payment increased from $97.8 million to $106.1 million. |
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