|
UK to provide $545 million to Tanzania
2006-02-02 08:38:02
By Guardian Reporter
The British government has announced that it will provide £310 million (US$545 million) over the next three years to support the implementation of the Tanzanian government’s National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty, Mkukuta.
The money, in the form of general budget support (GBS), will supplement the national budget and allow the government to follow through its plans on Mkukuta to speed up the country’s progress towards reaching the UN Millennium Development Goals.
The UK’s contribution is part of a broader five-year multilateral agreement signed last week between Tanzania and 14 development partners.
’’Progress in Africa depends on African governments’ taking responsibility for their own countries’ development and getting the support they need from the international community,’’ Hilary Benn, the UK Secretary of State for the Department of International Development, said in a statement.
’’’Tanzania has taken great strides in improving the lives of its people, and the UK will continue to support it,’’ he added.
The three-year UK commitment comprises £90 million for the financial year 2006/7, £105 million for 2007/8 and £115 million for 2008/9.
The money will be disbursed in lumpsum in the first quarter of each financial year, in line with Tanzania’s budgetary requirements.
’’This support demonstrates the UK’s confidence in Tanzania’s recent progress in boosting economic growth and reducing poverty,’’ said David Stanton, the head of the UK’s Department for International Development in Tanzania.
’’By making aid flows more predictable, we seek to help Tanzania invest confidently in the future.’’
The UK’s support for the Tanzanian budget has risen steadily in the past five years: £35 million ($50 million) in 2001/02; £45 million ($71 million) in 2002/3; £60 million ($100 million) in 2003/4; £65 million ($121 million) in 2004/5 and £85 million ($150 million) in 2005/6.
On January 14, 2006, the Government of Tanzania and 14 GBS donors, signed a Partnership Framework Agreement to govern how GBS would be given out in the next five years.
|
