Germany is due to give Tanzania 82.19bn/- in budget support and has urged the government to continue thinking critically on ways to improve the lives of the people and consolidate cooperation with its development partners.
This was revealed when the governments of the two countries signed technical and financial agreements, under which Germany pledged to help cushion the government budget for up to 2009.
Tanzania needs to redouble its efforts and continue thinking critically about what can be done to improve the lives of the people.
You should not be content with the international praises you have been receiving for implementing the UN`s Millennium Development Goals,`noted the country`s Ambassador to Tanzania, Wolfgang Ringe, at the signing ceremony at the Ministry of Finance in Dar es Salaam.
The envoy`s cautionary note followed the international acclaim Tanzania has been receiving in connection with the headway it has made in implementing the MDGs.
Please, let me encourage you not to rest on your laurels following the credit, he added.
The envoy said the praise should serve as a solid basis for the government to continue tackling pending tricky but substantive issues like the problems facing energy supply and distribution, decentralisation, and good governance.
He pointed out that the German government was more than willing, ready and prepared to assist the Tanzanian government in all those respects.
During the two governments` negotiations in early last year, Germany committed some 80bn/- in bilateral development cooperation assistance funds to Tanzania.
`Today, an additional 48.5 million Euro will be added. In total, we have committed 111.9 million Euro, which is equivalent to 189.64bn/- for the period 2006-2008,` Ambassador Ringe observed.
He said the assistance has been directed to the water and health sectors as well as supporting local governance and the national budget, adding: `These examples should not lessen efforts in the other fields, especially the country`s fighting against the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The Permanent Secretary in the Finance ministry, Gray Mgonja, signed the agreement on behalf of the government and commended Germany for its financial and technical assistance to Tanzania.
Under the first agreement, Germany will provide 71.1bn/- in general budget support and for assisting in the implementation of local governance-related programmes and the water and health sectors.
Under the second agreement, Germany will disburse 11.02bn/- in technical support to help in the implementation of programmes in the respective sectors.
`The focus is on the poor segments of our society. I am sure this would be up to the expectations of German taxpayers as well as the Tanzanian people. I believe the money will be spent as intended,` noted Mgonja.
He said the funds would go into facilitating the implementation of various activities and programmes, including the National Strategy for Growth and Poverty Reduction, National Water Sector Development Programme, improving access to HIV/AIDS-related healthcare, and improvement of governance at the local levels.
SOURCE: Guardian
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