Zanzibar current account deficit widens by $57mil

This was largely associated with the increase in imports of goods and services.

Bank of Tanzania Monthly Economic Review for January shows imports of goods and services rose to US$622.1 million from US$555.6 million in the year ending December 2022.

The increase was mainly recorded in capital and intermediate categories of goods import.

Imports of capital goods more than doubled to US$78.7 million last year, compared to US$34.6 million recorded in 2022, while the value of  intermediate goods climbed by 3.4 percent to US$386.4 million, compared to US$373.7 million.

The increase in imports of capital goods was largely associated with the ongoing infrastructure projects, while that of intermediate goods was mainly due rise in the volume of fuel and lubricant (refined white petroleum), food and beverage for industrial, and motorcars for households.

Consumer goods imports registered a decline of 4.6 percent, with a notable decline observed in the categories of food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, and paper and paper products.

In a meantime, the exports earnings declined by 34.7 percent last year to US$49.9 million compared to US$76.5 million recorded in 2022, following the dramatic drop of earnings from cloves exports.

The economic review for January shows the value of exported cloves, which accounted for 75 percent of total goods exports earnings in 2022, totalled to US$20.7 million during the year ended in December 2023, compared to US$51.6 million recorded in 2022.

The decline of cloves exports earnings caused by the cyclical nature of the crop, according to the BoT review.

BoT and Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) provisional data show the volume of exported cloves declined by 52.3 percent to 3,600 tonnes during the year ending December, 2023, compared to 7,600 tonnes exported in 2022.

The traditional export crop’s unit price also decreased by 15 percent during the reported period to US$5,750 per tonne last year, compared to US$7,400 recorded during the previous year.

However, the exports of non-traditional exports, increased during the reported years by 17.2 percent to US$29.2 million, compared to US$24.9 million recorded during the previous year.

The increase of exported non-traditional exports caused by expanded earnings from exports of seaweeds, other exports, fish and fish products, and manufactured goods.

The exports of manufactured goods, second top exports earner, slightly increased by 1.2 percent to US$10.7 million last year, compared to US$10.5 million recorded in 2022.

The earnings from other exports  include souvenirs and spices went up by 45 percent to US$8.5 million in 2023, compared to US$5.8 million recorded in2022, while the earnings from fish and fish products gained by 24 percent to US$1.96 million compared to US$1.5 million respectively.

On month-to-month, exports of goods and services rose to US$20.7 million in December 2023 compared to US$18.4 million in December 2022.

The review also shows service receipt, in particular tourism-related, rose by 20.5 percent to US$143.1 million, following an increase in tourist arrivals.