There is an undercurrent of tensions between IMF and the Tanzanian government. The apparent charge is that the Tanzanian government had blocked the publication of a critical International Monetary Fund (IMF) report that accuses President John Magufuli’s government of undermining economic growth with “unpredictable and interventionist” policies. The report, critics say, has been blocked and a few claim that they had seen the report, though the Tanzanian finance minister swears that there was no such report by the IMF. The report of the IMF has castigated the weak business environment and the implementation of projects that may not have high rates of returns to pep up annual GDP growth.
Tanzania’s finance and planning minister, Philip Mpango, told parliament recently that the government was still holding consultations with the IMF and there was no question of blocking the report, which is not there. But many feel that he has to come clean on that since many had seen that report, which has been leaked to the press. The take of the IMF in Washington is different. It said consultations with the government had been taking place, and that it was up to the government to give consent to the publication of the report, though it refrains from commenting on what is inside the leaked report. Earlier, the IMF said its staff report was part of its “mandate to exercise surveillance over the economic, financial and exchange rate policies of its members. Magufuli’s government has embarked on a program of industrialization. But foreign investment in the country has fallen allegedly due to government interventions in the mining and agriculture sectors. According to the IMF, Tanzania can have a projected rate of GDP growth of around 4-5 percent in the medium term if current policies continue. That forecast differs from the government’s, which estimates that the economy would grow by 7.3 percent in 2019 based on a trend that it was estimated to have grown 7.2 percent last year. The IMF report also castigated the interventionist policies of the present regime, which acted as a drag on development and alluded that it had bred corruption. Yet another flip side pointed out by the multilateral organization was serious weaknesses in the official data. This point has come up a number of times in public space. Tanzania’s insistence that people are advised to use only official data and any infringement would attract penal action, did not go well with many national and international organizations including IMF.
