Economic hardship temporary: Nnauye

Tanga. Tanzanians who have been complaining about economic hardships have been urged to tolerate and be innovative as there was a bright future for hard working people.

Information, Sports, Arts and Culture minister Nape Nnauye yesterday tried to cool the nerves of the financially hard-hit citizens saying this was only a temporary situation that would come to an end in the near future.

“We are aware of the complaints that it is very hard to earn money nowadays. There is generally a very hard financial situation,” he said, but assuring traders attending a meeting of Promotion of Indian Business opportunities organised by the Indian High Commission and the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry Agriculture (TCCIA), Tanga Chapter that they have nothing to fear because this is a temporary situation. Mr Nnanye said the situation was a result of the government’s move to remove shoddy businesses and prevent illicit money from entering in the circulation because it will affect inflation negatively.

“We are trying to instil financial discipline among Tanzanians. We want people to respect legal incomes and live within their means,” he said. He noted that the government had to take such drastic move as the country’s situation was bad.

Exemplifying, he noted that there were people who were living on ill-gotten money, some of which came from the government.

In another development, business proprietors have been warned that they are going to lose if they don’t change the way they manage their businesses.

University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) deputy vice chancellor responsible for research, Prof Cuthbert Kimambo, said many businesses were currently closing because of ‘business as usual’ tendency.