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How will we pay for poverty reduction?
We are still not sure exactly how much money we will need nor how much
money will be available in the future. It is clear, however, that we will
not have as much as we would like and that we will have to spend what we
have very carefully and effectively.
We will not know exactly how much will be available specifically for
poverty reduction until all the other Government plans have been drawn up.
 | Some of the money will come from the government budget but we will
not know how big this will be until improvements in the tax system
have been made. |
| Some of the money will come from foreign donors but we cannot always
predict how much this will be in the medium to long term. |
| The Government will use its money to capture other money through
co-financing and match-funding with ordinary people and businessmen
who have well thought out ideas and projects. |
| The Government may borrow money to fill gaps. |
Bearing in mind these uncertainties, and the need for a stable economy,
the targets set for the next three years are that total budgetary
expenditure will increase from 15.5 to 17-18 per cent of the total wealth
created. Of this 70 per cent will come from the Government and 30 per cent
will come from foreign donors either as grants or loans.
If the Government reforms are successful then Tanzania will meet the
conditions for Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) debt relief by
mid-2001. This means that some of the money that would have gone to
repaying foreign debts can be used locally to reduce poverty.
Many of the poverty reduction activities will be managed by local
government. The exact details of this will be worked out in the ongoing
Local Government Reform Programme (LGRP).
In response to what ordinary people said in consultations to prepare
this document, the Government has decided that the most important poverty
reduction activities should be repairing and improving services for the
priority sectors and items. These are described below:
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Millions of shillings
|
Sector
|
Item
|
Education (item = primary education)
|
182,061
|
142,424
|
Health (item = primary health care)
|
65,970
|
42,314
|
Roads (item = in the rural areas)
|
50,147
|
28,849
|
The Court System
|
|
7,855
|
Agriculture (item = research and extension)
|
8,213
|
6,893
|
Water
|
|
5,064
|
HIV/AIDS
|
|
4,800
|
Abolition of primary school fees
The government will stop collecting primary school fees in July 2001.
This is because the government believes that more children, especially
those from poor families, will be able to get a primary school education
if they do not have to pay fees.
Stimulating contributions from communities and other stakeholders
Local communities have always been active in reducing poverty through
self-help schemes to build classrooms, health centres, water supplies,
rural roads and so on. The Government will encourage more of this by
sharing the costs of some of these schemes and by encouraging other donors
to do the same.
Training for work
The Government intends to spend about Tsh. 100 million every year to
help people learn what they need to get jobs. This money will be targeted
particularly at vulnerable people.
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