Tanzania: Tourist Arrivals Lift Tanzania's Exports

EARNINGS from tourism receipts, manufactured and traditional goods during August this year, contributed to improved export performance compared to the corresponding period 2014.

The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) monthly economic review shows that the value of export of goods and services was 9,363.8 million US dollars in the month under review, an increase by 9.8 per cent from corresponding period in 2014.

Service receipts increased by 10.3 per cent to 3,702.2 million US dollars from the receipts recorded in August mainly driven by an increase in receipts from travel which is mainly tourism related activities and transportation.

The good performance of the two categories was explained by increased number of tourist arrivals and volume of transit goods, respectively. The outstanding performance of goods exports contributed largely to the narrowing of the current account balance by 16.6 per cent to a deficit of 4,347.2 million US dollars.

During this period, traditional exports were 858.4 million US dollars compared with 835.6 million US dollars in August due improvement in export value of coffee and cashew nuts

The good performance of cashew nut export was on account of volume and unit price while that of coffee export was attributed to improved unit price. Non-traditional exports increased by 11.1 per cent to 4,064.8 million US dollars from the amount recorded in the year ending August 2014.

The share of export value of manufactured goods continued to increase, mainly supported by the growth in manufacturing activity, which has been growing at an average rate of 7.4 per cent in the last three years since 2012.

However, the overall balance of payments recorded a deficit of 233.1 million US dollars compared to a surplus of 25 million US dollars in August on account of deterioration in capital and financial accounts that more than offset improvements in the current account.

Gross official reserves amounted to 4,191.9 million US dollars in August sufficient to cover 4.0 months of projected imports of goods and services, excluding those financed by foreign direct investment. Meanwhile, gross foreign assets of banks stood at 1,199.9 million US dollars.