UK meets 216bn/- GBS pledge

The Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Mr Mustafa Mkulo and Bjarne H Sørensen, the Ambassador of Denmark who currently chairs the GBS Partners, yesterday confirmed that the partners would meet their targeted 860bn/- pledge ($750 million) for the 2008/09 budget estimates.

Minister Mkulo said the Development Partners had assured the government that they would stick to their pledges to support the national budget and other development projects contrary to what he called speculations that they were hesitant to release their pledges due to corruption and mismanagement of the public funds, expressing optimism that the partners would fulfil their pledges between now and December this year.

This payment by the Government of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland is the first inflow under the General Budget Support within the first quarter of the fiscal year 2008/2009, in line with Framework Memorandum of Understanding, Minister Mkulo said.

The minister noted that the Tanzania government had already received UK dole-out – through account at the Bank of Tanzania – and that the intended recipients would start receiving the funds. He said this while showing reporters the pay-in-slip from the Bank of Tanzania.

GBS is the preferred way to deliver development assistance to Tanzania because it provides directly to the national budget and allows the government to allocate the funds according to national priorities, the minister said. Other development partners who have made pledges include the African Development Bank (AfDB), Canada, Denmark, the European Commission (EC), Finland, Germany, Ireland and Japan.

Others are Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the World Bank who, according to the Framework Memorandum of Understanding concluded in 2006, agreed to disburse funds during the first half of the financial year to enable the government to deliver the required economic and social services and other poverty reduction campaigns.

According to Ambassador Sørensen, the decision to provide these funds follows a close and constructive dialogue between the partners and the Government over the last nine months, during which the Government has taken steps to address broader governance challenges as well as specific corruption allegations. Sorensen said: Tanzania’s GBS partners have now confirmed their contributions for this year … this demonstrates our strong commitment to Tanzania’s development.

The government has strengthened fiduciary controls at the Bank of Tanzania and taken disciplinary measures against errant government officials. The investigation of the EPAcase has made good progress, recovering some of the funds and identifying culprits. The government has assured us that the investigation will be carried through to its proper conclusions.

He added: Tanzania has achieved important development gains. But there is no doubt that very significant challenges remain. We will focus on these when the GBS partners and government jointly assess progress and prospects at their next Annual Review in November.

We want to work with government and civil society to maximize the opportunities for economic growth, and to ensure that the poorest Tanzanians benefit from it. Domestic accountability – not just accountability to donors – is a critical factor in this and we are encouraged by the contribution from the media, civil society and parliament in advancing such accountability.

The ambassador said that GBS was giving the government means and incentives to build up its own capacity to design, implement and deliver its own programmes for its own people in a long-term, strategic and sustainable way. We will therefore continue to work closely with the government to ensure as far as possible that the right conditions for General Budget Support are maintained. he added.

 

 By PIUS RUGONZIBWA