Washington, DC, September 22, 2005 –
The Permanent Secretary of the Treasury,
Gray Mgonja, today signed, on behalf of
the Government of Tanzania, the credit
agreement for Tanzania’s third Poverty
Reduction Support Credit (PRSC-III). Judy
O’Connor, the World Bank’s
Country Director for Tanzania and Uganda,
signed on behalf of the World Bank.
The US$150 million credit* will provide
direct budget support for the implementation
of key elements of Tanzania’s National
Strategy for Growth and Poverty Reduction
(MKUKUTA). The credit was approved by
the World Bank’s Board of Executive
Directors on September 8, 2005.
Mgonja highlighted Tanzania's continued
strong economic performance and progress
in the areas of education, health, and
water, indicating that progress in these
areas has been greatly facilitated by
the Bank's support through the PRSCs.
“The Government is committed to
continued reforms, with increased focus
on agriculture, which directly affects
the livelihood of the poor in Tanzania,”
Mgonja emphasized.
PRSC-III will support reforms to improve
economic governance, enhance public service
delivery, and create an enabling environment
for private sector activities.
“The World Bank is committed to
supporting Tanzania's poverty reduction
strategy in ways that support Tanzanian
ownership of the reform process and full
alignment of the Bank's PRSC support with
Tanzania's budget," O’Connor
said.
The credit will fund measures to build
capacity within the public sector to implement
poverty reduction programs in the priority
sectors including primary education, basic
health, the judiciary, agricultural research
and training, and rural infrastructure.
Reforms are expected to significantly
impact agriculture and rural development
focusing on raising agricultural productivity
and enhancing the incomes of rural dwellers,
where poverty is most widespread and most
deeply entrenched.
* The credit is on standard International
Development Association (IDA) terms, with
a commitment fee of 0.35 percent and a
service charge of 0.75 percent. The credit’s
period of maturity is 40 years, including
a 10-year period of grace.
For more information on the World Bank’s
work in Africa visit:
http://www.worldbank.org/afr/
For more information on the World Bank’s
work in Tanzania visit: www.worldbank.org/tanzania
For the third Tanzania Poverty
Reduction Support Credit documents visit:
http://web.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64027221&piPK=64027220&theSitePK=258799&menuPK=287369&Projectid=P087256
