The General Budget Support (GBS) group has pledged $559 million (911 billion shillings) in general budget support to the Tanzanian government for the 2014-2015 fiscal year, Tanzania’s The Citizen reported Saturday (April 5th).
The funding is $9.2 million (15 billion shillings) more than was pledged for the current fiscal year. “Tanzania continues to receive one of the highest levels of budget support in Africa,” the group said in a statement.
General Budget Support to Tanzania has declined since its peak of $930 million (1.5 trillion shillings) in the 2009-2010 fiscal year, but Tanzania remains among the top recipients, according to GBS chair Sinikka Antila of Finland.
“GBS is the preferred aid modality of the government…as development partners provide their GBS commitments during the government’s budget planning process, it enables funds to be taken into account in the national budget planning,” she said.
Funding priorities for the coming year will include improved teacher-student ratios across the country, an increase in the number of nurses and midwives available, and improved access to water in rural areas.
The Budget Support Group in Tanzania is currently comprised of nine bilateral donors and three multilateral agencies.
source: sabahionline