Overall balance of payment posts surplus

The article reports on Tanzania's improvement in the balance of payments, which showed a surplus of 988.7 million US dollars for the year ending April 2020, a significant improvement from the deficit of 759.6 million US dollars the previous year. This shift was primarily due to a reduction in the current account deficit, from 1,893.1 million US dollars to 777.9 million US dollars, attributed to an increase in exports of goods. These exports saw a growth of 1,364.4 million US dollars, driven by both traditional and non-traditional exports, with cashew nuts, cotton, cloves, and sisal leading the traditional exports, and gold dominating the non-traditional exports, contributing 56.3% to the total. Despite challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in hospitality and passenger travel, the external sector performance was satisfactory, showing an increase in the export value and volume of traditional goods, and a significant rise in gold exports due to both increased volume and world market price.