DAR ES SALAAM: Tanzania’s latest public audit report shows marked improvement in financial reporting across government institutions, with 99% of audited entities receiving clean opinions, the national auditor said.
Presenting the 2024/2025 report to President Samia Suluhu Hassan at State House in Dar es Salaam, Controller and Auditor General Charles Kichere said 1,326 out of 1,339 audits issued unqualified opinions.
Ten reports, or 0.8%, received qualified opinions, one was adverse, and two entities were issued disclaimers. The total number of audits rose to 1,339 from 1,301 in the previous financial year.
“Overall, these findings demonstrate that government financial statements largely comply with established accounting standards,” Kichere said, pointing to improved fiscal discipline across public institutions.
However, the auditor urged stronger follow-through on past recommendations, warning that gaps in implementation continue to undermine accountability and public resource management.
Government debt rose to 110.05 trillion Tanzanian shillings ($approx.), an increase of 13.04% from the previous year, driven largely by external borrowing and currency depreciation. A weaker shilling added about 2 trillion shillings in exchange rate losses, the report said.
Despite the rise, Tanzania’s debt remains within sustainable thresholds, according to official benchmarks. The debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 40.7%, below the 55% ceiling, while external debt accounts for 24.9% of GDP, under the 40% limit.
On revenue, the government collected 47.2 trillion shillings in the 2024/2025 fiscal year, equivalent to 93.11% of its 50.29 trillion shilling target. Domestic revenue reached 99.4% of projections, with the Tanzania Revenue Authority exceeding its collection goals.
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Performance among state-owned enterprises showed mixed results. Total losses declined to 307.1 billion shillings from 412.3 billion shillings a year earlier. However, the auditor said the improvement was largely due to government subsidies of 105.2 billion shillings, rather than operational efficiency gains.
“Losses have effectively been shifted to the government,” Kichere said, noting that 22 public institutions continued to post losses over periods ranging from one to five years.
Air Tanzania Company Limited reported a loss of 191 billion shillings in 2024/2025, more than doubling from the previous year and bringing cumulative losses to 748 billion shillings. Meanwhile, Tanzania Railways Corporation recorded losses of 3.06 billion shillings amid declining freight volumes and operational challenges, including 328 accidents.
The report also highlighted persistent weaknesses in implementing audit recommendations. Of 38,181 recommendations issued in previous years, only 36.7% have been fully implemented, while 43% remain in progress and others unaddressed.
The auditor called for wider adoption of the government’s financial management system, IFT-MIS, currently used under the Prime Minister’s Office for regional administration and local government, saying it has shown early positive results.
He also pointed to long-standing audit concerns, including uncollected tax arrears of 7.24 billion shillings owed to the Tanzania Revenue Authority for more than 17 years, unpaid dues of 658 million shillings to the Marine Parks and Reserves Authority, and untitled assets worth 3.28 billion shillings held by the Cashewnut Board of Tanzania.
Kichere said stronger oversight and timely implementation of audit recommendations would be key to sustaining recent gains in financial management and improving efficiency across public institutions.