Bank of Tanzania

The Bank of Tanzania ( sw, Benki Kuu ya Tanzania) is the central bank of the United Republic of Tanzania. It is responsible for issuing the national currency, the Tanzanian shilling.

The bank was established under the Bank of Tanzania Act 1965. However, in 1995, the government decided that the central bank had too many responsibilities, and was thus hindering its other objectives. As a result, the government introduced the Bank of Tanzania Act 1995, which gave the bank the single objective of monetary policy.

It is governed by a board of directors consisting of ten people, four of whom are ''ex officio'' members which have three advisory committees that can assist them. The bank is headed by its Governor, assisted by three deputy governors in Administration, Economic and financial policies and Financial stability.

History

The Bank of Tanzania was chartered by the first parliament of Tanzania through the Bank of Tanzania Act of 1965 following the dissolution of the East African Currency Board in 1965. The bank commenced operations on June 14, 1966 and was inaugurated by the first president of Tanzania, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere.

Arusha declaration

Immediately after its formation, the Arusha declaration was proclaimed and the traditional roles of the bank was modified to accommodate for the changes in economic system. The lack of competition in the financial markets meant the bank had to reorient its role in the economy. After 1971 The Exchange Control Ordinance and Import Control Ordinance allowed the bank to apply the following plans:
* The Annual Finance and Credit plan allowed the bank to freely control interest rates and was the main act that allowed the bank to administer monetary policy
* The Foreign Exchange Plan to control the use of foreign exchange to protect national interests and protect the local currency from devaluation
With increased villagisation during the time period and the continued weakness in the balance of payment of the bank, the Bank of Tanzania act was amended in 1978 to give the bank more control. The Act shifted the responsibility of financial planning from the ministry of finance and planning directly to the bank.

Liberalization

Following the liberalization of the economy in 1995 and the rapid rate of inflation and devaluation in the shilling, the Bank of Tanzania act of 1995 was passed which clarified the primary objective of the central bank to establish a monetary environment to ensure Price stability. The act was further clarified in 2006 and is the current governing act for the bank.

Organizational structure

Board of directors

The Bank of Tanzania has a board of directors consisting of 10 people. Four of the members are directly appointed by the President of Tanzania. The ministry of Finance and the Principal secretary to the treasury of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar also appoint a member each to the board.

The current board composition consists of the following:
* Governor, who is the chairman of the board
* Three deputy governors, whose roles are determined by the Governor
* Representative from the ministry of finance and planning
* Four non-executive directors
* Secretary to the board

List of governors

Below is a list of the eight Bank of Tanzania governors with seven former governors and one acting governor:

# Edwin Mtei – 1966 to 1974
# Charles Nyirabu – 1974 to 1989
# Gilman Rutihinda – 1989 to 1993
# Idris Rashidi – 1993 to 1998
# Daudi Ballali – 1998 to 8 January 2008
# Benno Ndulu – 8 January 2008 to 7 January 2018
# Florens Luoga – 8 January 2018 to present

Branch network

The bank is headquartered in Dar es salaam in the heart of the financial district of the city and also maintains the following 6 branches in the following cities:

#Arusha
#Mbeya
#Mwanza
#Zanzibar
#Dodoma
#Mtwara

The last branch was opened in Mtwara due to the recent economic growth in the southern regions.

Financial inclusion

The bank is active in promoting financial inclusion policy and is a leading member of th
Alliance for Financial Inclusion
It is also one of the original 17 regulatory institutions to make specific national commitments to financial inclusion under the Maya Declaration during the 2011 Global Policy Forum held in Mexico.

In 2016 the central Bank Chief Professor Benno Ndulu renewed the bank's commitment by launching the National Financial Inclusion Framework (NFIF),2016-2020. The objective is to reduce the number vulnerable households due to low unstable incomes, low confidence and self-exclusion from the current 28.2 per cent.

Training and continuous professional development

The bank also has its own training institute located in Mwanza.

Criticism

Bank of Tanzania was involved in an incident which resulted in an audit of its External Arrears Account. About TSh  were discovered to have been lost in 2005 through dubious payments. As a result, the President of Tanzania fired the bank's Governor, D. T. S. Ballali, on 2008. Professor Benno Ndullu was appointed to take this position on the same day.

See also

* Tanzanian shilling
* Economy of Tanzania
* List of banks in Tanzania
* List of central banks of Africa
* List of central banks

References

External links

Official website

{{Tanzania topics

Economy of Tanzania
Government of Tanzania
Tanzania
Banks of Tanzania
1965 establishments in Tanzania
Banks established in 1965