Exports of goods, services fall in June, says BoT report

An aerial view of Dar es Salaam port, gateway for most exports and imports of Tanzania and several landlocked countries. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

During the period of June 2019, according to MER, the value of traditional good exports declined to $515.4 million (Equivalent to Sh1.18 trillion) from $1.12 billion (Sh2.58 trillion) in the corresponding period in precedent year.

Dar es Salaam. In the year that ending on June 30, 2019, the value of exports of goods and services decrease to $8.56 billion (about Sh19.68 trillion) compared to $8.59 billion (Sh19.75 trillion) in the year before, according to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT).

The latest Monthly Economic Review (MER) by the central bank showed that the decrease was driven by decline in the value of goods exports, particularly traditional exorts.

During the year to June 30, 2019, the value of traditional goods exports declined to $515.4 million (Sh1.18 trillion) from $1.12 billion (Sh2.58 trillion) in the same period of the preceding year.

“The decline in the value of traditional goods exports was observed in all traditional exports, except coffee and cotton,” the report reads in part.

MER also says that the value of non-traditional goods exports, which accounts for 80.0 per cent of goods exports, increased to $3.57 billion (Sh8.21 trillion) in the year to June 30, 2019, from $3.14 billion (Sh7.22 trillion) in 2018.

“This was largely driven by gold exports whose export value grew by 18.7 per cent during the period,” MER states.

The value of gold esports - which accounts for more than 40 per cent of non-traditional exports - grew to $1.74 billion in June 2019 from $1.47 billion recorded in the previous year.

Foreign exchange receipts from services - which accounted for about 40 per cent of total exports - increased to $4.07 billion in the year to June 30, 2019 up from $3.89 billion in the corresponding period of 2018, according to the central bank.

According to MER, the increase was driven by travel receipts, mainly from tourism activities which grew by 7.4 per cent, to $2,488.1 million owing to upsurge in the number of tourist arrivals in the country.