This Selected Issues paper for Kenya, Uganda, and United Republic of Tanzania highlights their private sector credit markets, identifies their main obstacles in promoting credit to the private sector, and suggests a reform strategy. If the East African Community (EAC) countries decide to pursue...

This paper discusses key findings of the Fourth Review under the Policy Support Instrument (PSI) for the United Republic of Tanzania. By October 2008, inflation had risen to 11.8 percent mainly reflecting the surge in global food and fuel prices, but is expected to begin to recede. Poverty...

This paper reviews some early interim and full PRSPs for countries with which the authors worked during 1999-2000 (Uganda, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Mozambique, Mali and The Gambia). The purpose of the review is to compare and contrast how the PRSP process was established there. It finds that...

A zero net domestic financing (NDF) target has served Tanzania well in recent years, contributing to prudent expenditure policy, improved fiscal sustainability, and macroeconomic stability. Moving to a more flexible fiscal policy, however, may serve Tanzania better. The ""diamond rule"" proposed...

The Tanzanian economy performed better than expected in the face of adverse shocks owing to supportive fiscal and monetary policies. The government is committed to contain and prioritize public spending. Further strengthening of investment and debt management processes is an urgent priority....

Tanzania's Second National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP II) is a continuation of government and national commitments to accelerate economic growth and fight poverty. Though MKUKUTA I (NSGRP I) yielded demonstrable positive results, it failed to meet some targets. MKUKUTA...

The paper examines the effect of exchange rate changes on consumer prices in Tanzania using structural vector autoregression (VAR) models. Using a data set covering the period 1990-2005, we find that the exchange rate pass-through to inflation declined in the late 1990s despite the depreciation...

Economic volatility remains a fact of life in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA). Household-level shocks create large consumption fluctuations, raising the incidence of poverty. Drawing on micro-level data from South Africa and Tanzania, we examine the vulnerability to shocks across household types (e.g....

A common dilemma facing governments around the world is how to meet the sizeable fiscal costs of providing and maintaining infrastructure networks. Over the past decade, developed and developing countries have looked to fiscal rules, budgetary reforms, tax policy and administration measures,...