Tanzania pledges to review its budget guidelines as a move to enhance public financial discipline

DODOMA: THE Tanzanian government has pledged to review the 2026/27–2028/29 Medium-Term Plan and Budget Preparation Guidelines, taking into account views and recommendations from Members of Parliament, in a move aimed at strengthening public financial discipline, improving development project management and enhancing budget implementation efficiency.

The commitment was made by Finance Minister, Ambassador Khamis Mussa Omar, while winding up debate on the proposed guidelines in Parliament in Dodoma, where he said the government would analyse recommendations submitted by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Budget and MPs and develop strategies for their implementation.

“We have received all the advice and recommendations presented by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Budget and honourable members. The government will analyse the proposals and develop short- and long-term strategies for implementing them,” Ambassador Omar said.

He said contributions during the debate focused on seven key areas: controlling government expenditure, strengthening revenue collection by public institutions, managing and financing development projects, debt management and repayment, using technology in revenue collection and public expenditure, strengthening public financial management discipline, and identifying and implementing projects through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).

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He explained that the government was in the process of amending the Public-Private Partnership Act, Cap 103, to address challenges associated with project preparation and implementation, as well as delays in reaching agreements on PPP contract terms.

He said the government would continue overseeing the implementation of the Plan and Budget directives to address challenges in identifying and preparing PPP projects, with the aim of developing projects that meet private sector investment requirements and are commercially viable (bankable PPP projects).

On Public-Private Partnership projects, Ambassador Omar said the government was continuing to improve the environment for their implementation, noting that in the 2026/27 financial year, a total of 10 projects worth 8.6tri/- were at the implementation stage.