New Survey Monitors Tanzania Economy and Investment Climate

A new survey that is being monitored by the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has been designed to monitor the inflows of Foreign Private Investments (FPI) in the country and their overall impact on the Tanzania economy while, at the same time, promoting strategic investment projects and facilitation strategies.

The survey, which is scheduled to run for three months, from this month until July, will be conducted through a series of visits to the participating institutions coupled with a series of live interviews with the chief executive officers, chief accountants and directors of finance.

The purpose of the survey is to further the dialogue between the public and private sectors in order to a=obtain the appropriate investment policies so as to help develop the overall investment climate of the country.

According to a joint statement that was signed by S.M Mbaruku, the Director of Economic Statistics Division of NBS; J. L Masawe, the Director of Economic Policy; and J.J Kyaruzi, the Director of Research and Information Systems at the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), indicates the survey will cover 400 sampled companies, which will cover all sectors and regions of the country.

“The main objective of the survey is to monitor Foreign Private Investment inflows in order to assess their impact on the economy of Tanzania,” read the statement.

In order to conduct the survey, the cooperating institutions will be collecting and analyzing data concerning various types of foreign private capital flows dating back to 2006 and continuing through 2008 in order to create a basis for developing investment promotion strategies, macroeconomic policy framework and balance of payments sustainability structure.

“The survey is intended to confirm foreign direct investment data for 2006 and update those for 2007 and 2008,” the statement indicated.

Respondents are required to supply the requested information to the research team, however, the collected information will only used for statistical purposes and any data related to individual companies will only be disclosed to the BoT, TIC or NBS. 

In the end, the results of this survey will help to monitor the balance of payments compilations of the country in addition to helping to determine the International Investment Position (IIP) in Tanzania as well as helping to design an effective investment promotion and facilitation strategies in addition to serving as the foundation for macroeconomic policy reviews and formulation and assessing the impact of the global financial crisis on foreign direct investment inflows.