BoT restructuring measures impact on other undertakings

The on-going restructuring at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) and the corresponding tight financial supervision have started impacting on the undertakings of some of its departments, including the public publications.

As a result of the restructuring, the bank`s publication previously known as `Monthly Economic Review` has folded up for months. The publication used to come out every month.

The BoT Monthly Economic Review gives important economic information-import and exports trends, and the country`s sectoral economic performance as well as other essential economic indicators.

The latest available `Monthly Economic Review` is that of August 2008, which captured the July economic information, a delay that has never been experienced in the bank\'s history.

Sources within the BoT said the delay emanated from the current restructuring of the bank, which among other things required printing of the monthly review to first pass through a competitive tendering process as required by the Public Procurement Act of 2004 (Act No. 21/04).

``The delay is the result of current bank restructuring aimed at tightening up the bank�s financial expenditure by different departments and the requirement to abide by all financial regulations, including the Public Procurement Act,`` the sources said.

The Public Procurement Act of 2004 directs among other things, the financial ceilings beyond which government returning officers and other financiers of public funds must follow the tendering process and procurements.

In the past, the department responsible with preparation of the Bank`s Monthly Economic Review could also undertake printing activities without necessarily passing through a tendering processes.

Since the discovery of misuse of funds in the External Payment Arrears (EPA) Account , the bank has been forced to adopt stringent supervisory measures in its different departments, including termination of some former employees to ensure such misuses does not happen again.

The discovery came following opposition parties parliamentarians request for a probe into the EPA transactions, and a special audit of the same was undertaken using an internationally known audit firm-- Ernst & Young on behalf of the Controller and Auditor General in December 2007.

The audit report clearly pointed out that a total of 133bn/- (about $113 million) had been fraudulently paid to 22 local companies under the EPA account between 2005 and 2006.

Following the scandal the BoT, in collaboration with some development partners, has put in place and adopted stringent measures aimed at strengthening the internal governance of the bank to improve the management of the EPA account and other finances.

* SOURCE: Guardian