By BEATRICE MATERU

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Despite being surreal, 2020 was not such a bad year for the Tanzanian economy. Revenue collection strengthened by 69 percent from internal market, inflation stayed below four percent, and in July, the World Bank upgraded the country from a low- to a lower-middle income status.

This upgrade came on the back of the country’s strong economic performance of over six percent real GDP growth on average for the past decade.

Tanzania Revenue Authority’s data showed the current account at $893.7 million as of October 2020, which is more than a half of the deficit of $1.615 billion recorded in year ending October 2019. The improvement was on account of an increase in exports and a decrease in imports.

Boost from extractives

Exports of goods and services shrunk to $8.856 billion in the year ending October 2020 compared with $9.393 billion collected over the same period last year and attributed to a decline in exports of agricultural products such as coffee and tea and low re-exportation.

Notwithstanding the closure of international borders due to Covid-19, exports of traditional and non-traditional goods were stable. Traditional exports earnings stood at $788.5 million in the year ending October, much of the increase of cashew nuts, cotton, cloves, tobacco and sisal.

While exports of non-traditional goods increased to $5.076 billion latest data from the Bank of Tanzania shows. In the Monthly Economic Review for November, exports of gold, mineral concentrates, horticulture and manufactured goods also increased.

Gold, which accounted for 55.8 per cent of total nontraditional exports, increased by 35.9 per cent to $2.833 billion in 2020 from $2.084 billion attained in 2019 owing to increase in volume of gold coupled with rising gold prices.

Tanzania reaped big in extractives against other sectors. Revenue collected from gold, diamond, tanzanite, tin and other gemstones sold at the markets stood at Tsh739 billion ($318.28 million).