Tanzania needs to do more in its fight against graft and take swift action against perpetrators to remove any impression it condoned impunity, the World Bank said.
The bank said in a statement late on Monday that Tanzania’s slow pace of public finance reforms, transparency and accountability had led to a dip in rankings that its lending arm the International Development Association (IDA) uses to gauge borrowers.
This will partly contribute to Tanzania receiving about $312-million less in the 2010 and 2011 fiscal years, it said.
Tanzanian President Kikwete has placed fighting graft, especially in public procurement, among his top priorities and donors are watching closely. Last week he said the government’s anti-corruption agency will bring two or three more big cases to court soon.
”IDA recognises that the government has taken positive actions … however, remedial action has not yet been proportional to the gravity of the facts and not deep or fast enough to seriously dent the perception of impunity,” the bank said.
The bank did not mention any particular case in its statement. But among others, at least 13 individuals are currently in court over a 2005 scandal where the government paid $105,5-million to companies using flawed or nonexistent records from the central bank’s External Payment Arrears Account.
Consequently, last year Kikwete fired the central bank governor, the late Daudi Ballali, over the incident and ordered the account frozen.
The east African economy of 40-million is among the continent’s highest recipients of aid per capita, with 33% of its 2009/10 9,51-trillion shilling budget coming from external sources.
IDA uses its Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) rating and other criteria to determine how much it can lend to a country in a given year. The ranking places heavy emphasis on public finance management and reform.
World Bank said Tanzania’s rank dipped to 3,8 in 2008 from 3,9 a year before, but it will get about $1,15-billion in its 2010 and 2011 fiscal years, a reduction of about $312-million.
”The lower rating … reflects the weaknesses in the institutional environment which have allowed the occurrence of serious corruption activities in areas central to the management of the economy,” the bank said.
The average rating among all IDA borrowers is 3,3. — Reuters