The Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication has unveiled a massive 4.5trl/- budget, which among other things will cover flagship infrastructure development in the 2017/2018 fiscal year.
This means, the government will be spending almost 45% of its budget as development expenditure in infrastructure.
However, the figure represents a drop of almost 400bn/- compared to the 2016/2017 budget, in which 4.9trl/- was set aside for the same purpose.
Presenting the budget estimates yesterday, the Minister, Prof Makame Mbarawa, said that out of the amount, the transport sector will take a huge chunk, totalling 2.5trl/-, while 1.9trl/- is for works sector and the remaining 18bn/- is reserved for communication sector.
Among areas of priority, is 900bn/- for the construction of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Morogoro to Dodoma and 200bn/- for rehabilitation of Dar es Salaam-Isaka central railway.
Spending will include work on ports, airports, bridges and roads.
