 The financial reforms adopted by the government recently have attracted a number of private banks to Tanzania. So far 18 banks, 11 Non bank financial institutions and 80 Bureaux operators have been licensed. The restructuring of the National Bank of Commerce (NBC), the largest domestic bank with a then market share of 90%, was indeed necessary, to eliminate losses, trim down bureaucracy and build an efficient, modern and highly competitive banking institution. The effects of restructuring resulted in the splitting of NBC into two banks, the National Microfinance Bank Limited (NMB) to cater for SMEs and NBC (1997) Ltd for corporate banking. NMB (with rural reach) has 95 branches and NBC, which has just been privatised, has 34 branches. Weak capital base has forced NMB to operate deposit accounts only since 1997. Registered Banks: These are banks authorised to receive money on current account subject to withdrawal by cheque. The Bank of Tanzania through its Directorate of Banking Supervision licenses them.
NOTE: * No commercial lending.
Bureau Operators:
These are institutions registered by Bank of Tanzania, and entrusted with the task of changing money over the counter. The Bureaux are regulated under the Foreign Exchange Act (1992). Also, there are two subsidiary legislations that are directly in use for regulation purposes namely, Bureau de Change Regulation (1996) and Foreign Exchange Regulation (1996). Currently the Bureaux de Change operating are as follows. PUBLIC BUREAUX :
IMPORT REGULATIONS
Following trade liberalisation, many other trade components have been liberalised. Importers are at liberty whether to import under Letters of Credit or open accounts, and so are methods of payment. However, Importers have to have valid Trade licenses, and should obtain an import license from Bank of Tanzania – Import Declaration Form (IDF) which is sold at USD 10. = per set. A threshold of USD 5,000. = (CIF) for Preshipment inspection to be observed. Goods requiring special license or permits e.g. firearms have to receive necessary permits from relevant authorities. All imports are subject to custom duties, with a few exceptions as may be directed by the Customs Department. EXPORT REGULATIONS : Exporters have to have valid Trading licenses. Exports of goods are liberalised. One may choose to export under Letters of Credit or open account, having evaluated the risks inherent to the transaction. Some goods require special permits before they are exported, example, gemstones, fishery products etc. Relevant permits have to be obtained and where necessary royalties paid before an export is made. Exports carry no export duty levies, with the exception of scrap metals. |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||