AS the government conducts sovereign rating to access soft loans from
foreign sources, the national debt has increased from 19.69 billion US
dollars in June, last year, to 23.2 billion US dollars by June, this
year, with the Treasury stating that the debt levels are still
sustainable - going by international standards.
What is more, the Deputy Minister for
Finance and Planning, Dr Ashatu Kijaji, assured parliamentarians here
yesterday that the lion’s share of the debt was spent to implement
development projects across the country.
Dr Kijaji made the explanation when
responding to a basic question by Ubungo MP, Mr Saed Kubenea (Chadema),
who expressed concerns on the ballooning of the national debt.
The question was asked by Hai MP, Mr
Freeman Mbowe (CHADEMA), on behalf of Mr Kubenea. The deputy minister
said the government had secured loans from both foreign and domestic
sources to implement infrastructure projects, including the natural gas
pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam as well as gas processing plants.
She mentioned other projects
construction of roads and bridges, a 400KV power transmission line from
Iringa to Shinyanga as well as the infrastructure for the Dar es Salaam
Bus Rapid project in addition to implementation of sustainable city
projects.
In addition, the funds were used for the
ongoing construction of Terminal 3 at the Julius Nyerere International
Airport (JNIA) in Dar es Salaam and expansion of Upper and Lower Ruvu
Water processing plants in Coast Region, she stated.
“The government, however, has put in
place measures to check spiraling of the debt by strengthening revenue
collections and curbing wasteful spending of public funds,” Dr Kijaji
explained.
During the financial year 2010/2011, she
said the government had borrowed soft loans from foreign sources
amounting to 1.3 trillion/- and 2.3 trillion/- during the fiscal year
2014/2015.
The explanation by the deputy minister
sought to clarify claims by the Ubungo MP that the government had
borrowed a staggering 15tri/- and 9tri/- during the period in question.
In a supplementary question, Mr Mbowe
claimed that going by the current rate of the debt, each Tanzanian owed
over one million shilling. The claims was rubbished by the Minister of
Home Affairs, Mr Mwigulu Nchemba, who explained that there was nowhere
in the world where citizens are subjected to pay the national debt.
At this juncture, the Presiding Chair of
the session, Mr Andrew Chenge, said there was a need to conduct
awareness among the parliamentarians and the general public as it was
obvious that majority of people were not aware on computation of the
liability.
Mr Chenge said sustainability of debts
by nations is pegged on international standards, observing that many
people were ignorant of such issues.
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