Forex

Tanzania Forex

In its Monthly Economic Review of March 2023, the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) explains that the Tanzanian Shilling (TZS) remained stable against currencies of major trading partners, trading at an average rate of TZS 2,321.13 per USD, compared with TZS 2,320.64 per USD in the preceding month.

On an annual basis, the shilling depreciated by 0.5% from TZS 2,309.61 per USD which was recorded in February 2022.

On 26th April 2023, the average market exchange rates (source bot.go.tz) for the Tanzanian shilling (TZS) against major currencies provided were: USD/TZS 2313.3707, GBP/TZS 2876.4486 EUR/TZS 2549.7983, CNY/TZS 334.2296.

A year earlier, on 26th April 2026, the average market exchange rates (source bot.go.tz) for the Tanzanian shilling (TZS) against major currencies provided were: USD/TZS 2298.7733, GBP/TZS 2932.3175 EUR/TZS 2468.1941.

Tanzania Dollarization

The Tanzanian Shilling is used as the principal unit of account and medium of exchange in most domestic transactions in the country.

Most goods and services are priced exclusively in Tanzanian shilling, with a few exceptions in those businesses where a large share of customers comes from outside the country.

Examples are safari tours, hotels, rentals and accommodations, flight tickets, and goods sold in souvenir shops, as well as international school fees, and cargo handling fees. In these cases, both the Tanzanian shilling and the US Dollar are often used.

According to a working paper by the BOT, about 3.2% of the businesses in Mainland Tanzania and 4.5% in Zanzibar quote prices in USD, but most of these businesses are willing to accept payments in Tanzanian Shilling.

Only 0.1% of the businesses in the Mainland and none in Zanzibar prefers payments exclusively in USD. The general conclusion of the paper is that there is no evidence that Tanzanians have shifted to foreign currencies as a medium of exchange.

Last Update: 26th April 2023