ZANZIBAR: ZANZIBAR’S current account recorded a surplus of 423.5 million US dollars in the period ending June this year from 407.5 million US dollars a year ago, driven by higher tourism receipts.
According to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) latest monthly economic review for June shows that the positive development of the Isles current account is also contributed by the improvement of the external sector in the year ending June.
During the period under review, service receipts recorded an annual growth of 0.5 per cent to 936.9 million US dollars following an increase in tourist arrivals.
The exports of goods and services increased to 1,001.5 million US dollars in the year ending June from 997.6 million US dollars in the corresponding period a year before driven by service receipts.
Cloves export in value terms declined by 32 per cent to 28.9 million US dollars compared to the corresponding period last year due to the cyclical nature of the crop.
On a month- to-month basis, exports of goods and services rose to 69.9 million US dollars from 69.3 million US dollars in June last year largely due to an increase in earnings from tourism related activities.
ALSO READ: Zanzibar registers current account surplus
During the period under review, imports of goods and services declined by 1.2 per cent to 593.3 million US dollars compared to the year ending June last year driven by goods imports.
The decrease in goods imports was observed in the intermediate and consumer goods categories.
The decline in intermediate goods imports was largely due to reduced imports of industrial supplies, as well as fuel and lubricant.
For consumer goods, the decrease was mainly due to a reduction in imports of food and beverages, and non-industrial transport equipment.
Month-to-month imports amounted to 47.3 million US dollars in June compared to 45.2 million US dollars in June last year.