THE government expects to collect more than 1.4 trillion/- in taxes and non-tax revenue this month as it strives to gradually cut on donor dependency and reduce budget deficit.
The Minister for Finance and Planning, Dr Philip Mpango, told reporters in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) was expecting to collect 1.28tri/- as tax revenue and the balance will come from non-tax revenue.
“The needs are many but we will continue to work hard and should we need to borrow, then the government shall go for soft loans,” said the minister as he explained that 484bn/- will be used to pay salaries, including teachers’ arrears in 154 local councils.He said 97bn/- will be used to pay employees in 24 government agencies and departments, including about 518.8m/- in salary arrears to the Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) and other institutions.
He explained further that the government would spend 18bn/- on boosting free education for all and another 57bn/- as student loans in institutions of higher learning for the third semester, while water programmes would be allocated 10bn/-.
Outstanding payments to road contractors have been allocated 166bn/- and rural electrification 24bn/-, he said. Other expenditure includes subsidies for political parties 1.4bn/-, food allowance for employees of defence and security organs 43bn/-, allowance for 1,608 intern doctors 1.0bn/-, Kinyerezi 1 power project 43bn/- and constituency development funds 5.0bn/-.
In January, Dr Mpango expressed optimism that the government would collect 2tri/- in revenue per month in the coming days and slowly but steadily reduce donor dependence.
During the month, the government collected 1.79tri/ up from 1.4tri/- in December.
Since the Fifth Phase government came to power, there has been improvement in tax collection each month. In November 2015, TRA collected 1.3tri/- after the Fifth Phase Government expressed its desire to up revenue collection figures.
/Daily News.
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