DAR ES SALAAM, April 21 (NNN-DAILYNEWS) — THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced a staff-level agreement with Tanzanian authorities that would grant the country access to approximately 441 million US dollars, equivalent to 1.2tril/- in financing.
The agreement, pending approval by the IMF Executive Board, is expected to provide a significant boost to Tanzania’s economy and support its efforts to strengthen fiscal and economic resilience.
IMF said in a statement that the agreement marks the successful completion of the fifth review under the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility (ECF) and the second review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).ADVERTISEMENT
These arrangements are integral to Tanzania’s broader strategy aimed at maintaining macroeconomic stability and accelerating sustainable development amidst ongoing global economic headwinds.
An IMF staff team, led by Nicolas Blancher, conducted a mission to Tanzania from April 2-17, 2025, to hold discussions on the 2025 Article IV consultation, the fifth review under the ECF and the second review under the RSF.
Subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board, completing these reviews will unlock SDR 326.47 million (about 1.1tril/- or 440.8 million US dollars). SDRs, or Special Drawing Rights, are an international reserve asset used by the IMF, based on the value of major world currencies.
This will bring the total IMF financial support under the ECF arrangement to SDR 682.21 million (about 907.4 million US dollars) and SDR 255.72 million (about 343.6 million US dollars) under the RSF.
“I am pleased to announce that the IMF team and the Tanzanian authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on the policies needed to complete the fifth review under Tanzania’s ECF-supported programme and the second review of the RSF arrangement. The IMF’s Executive Board will discuss these reviews in the coming weeks,” Blancher said at the conclusion of the mission.
Blancher highlighted Tanzania’s strong economic performance, noting that real GDP growth reached 5.5 per cent in 2024 and is projected to increase to 6 per cent in 2025.
Inflation has remained subdued at 3.3 per cent in March (year-on-year), staying below the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) target of 5 per cent.
While acknowledging a favourable economic outlook, Blancher cautioned that risks are tilted to the downside due to an uncertain external environment, including potential slowdowns in the global economy and trade, geoeconomics fragmentation, further conflict intensification in the Democratic Republic of Congo and reduced foreign development assistance.
Domestically, the upcoming General Election could increase risks of fiscal pressures or a slowdown in reforms.
The IMF noted that fiscal consolidation is expected to pause in the current fiscal year 2024/2025 following the adoption of a supplementary budget in February 2025, which aims to increase public spending by about 0.4 per cent of GDP on education, health, clearance of domestic arrears and other priority areas. — NNN-DAILYNEWS
