Tanzania receives loans instead of debt relief

Just over a year ago the late Julius Nyerere, much loved and respected former President of Tanzania, said the following: “When I am asked why the debts of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries should be cancelled; my answer is simple: these countries are very poor: their debts are immense and unpayable; and their heroic attempts to pay inflicts intolerable pain on people who are already too poor.” ^[1]

Tanzania recently reached the half-way stage or decision point in the current Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers visited Tanzania in mid- June and after meeting President Benjamin Mkapa he was upbeat about Tanzania's progress both in poverty reduction and its benefit from HIPC: "The HIPC program is on the right track at least for Tanzania," he said. On the face of it, with the headline figure of $3 billion of debt relief, it would be easy to believe him.

The reality is different however, and shows that the comments of Julius Nyerere are much more relevant than those of Larry Summers. Measured in net present value terms the debt will be reduced by only 36 per cent, and what is worse annual debt service payments are likely to fall by only 7 per cent. The reason for this tiny fall is because in Tanzania's case the HIPC initiative is largely cancelling debt that was not being serviced in any case. Rather than boosting government funds for poverty reduction, the initiative is just tidying up the books of creditors and recognising the fact that much of the debt can never be paid back. There is almost no benefit to ordinary Tanzanians.

Tanzania: US$ millions, unless stated

Total debt 1998 (NPV)	Total debt reduction (NPV)	Total debt reduction (NPV) (%)	Debt service before HIPC	Debt service After HIPC	Debt service reduction (%)	Education spending	Health spending
5682	2,026	35.7%	162	150	7%	154	87

Source: World Bank

The real outlook for Tanzania may be even bleaker than the World Bank estimates above. The Tanzanian Finance Minister Daniel Yona warned against over-expectations following the country's entry into the initiative. In a pre-budget speech at the end of May he said that 27.4 per cent of the government's recurrent revenue, projected at about $1.05 billion in the 2000/2001 fiscal year, would be spent on servicing the external debt. This would mean payments of $290 million in the current financial year, more than it was paying before entering HIPC. Completion point in the HIPC initiative will still be at least one year away, during which time the government will need to have shown it has an effective Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper in place.

It is easy to see future problems ahead as well. As a new study from Christian Aid has shown, despite the fact that many World Bank loans in the agricultural sector have been ineffective and added to the debt burden, the World Bank is considering a new programme that could entail lending almost US$1 billion to Tanzania. A new Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) is being considered, and as long as Tanzania stays on track with its IMF-supported adjustment programme, the World Bank intends to lend the government at least US$790 million over the next three years. There is also a proposal to increase lending in the third year of the CAS by US$200 million if the government performs exceptionally well in its adjustment programme, increasing lending over the period to some US$990 million.

Jubilee 2000 argues this shows that the World Bank cannot `kick the habit' of loan pushing, piling new debts on top of old unpayable ones. If the World Bank is serious about debt sustainability for Tanzania, its assistance should be in the form of grants and it should show a readiness to cancel much more debt.

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Footnotes

^[1] Address by Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere,to the Jubilee 2000 Campaign in Hamburg, Germany, 27 April, 1999.