DAR ES SALAAM, June 20 (Xinhua) — Tanzania’s central bank on Tuesday reminded local residents to stop making domestic payments for goods and services using foreign currencies.
The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) said in a statement that it has recently observed violations of the directive. According to the statement, the government issued a public notice prohibiting domestic payments for goods and services using foreign currencies for local residents respectively in August 2007 and December 2017.
BoT would like to remind the general public that the government’s directives are still valid and should be adhered to at all times, said the statement. It said all prices of goods and services in Tanzania should be quoted in Tanzanian shillings, including rent for land, housing and office, fees for education, medical services, equipment and reagents, transport, logistic and port services, electronic equipment, and telecommunication services.
The statement said prices to be paid by tourists or non-resident customers may be quoted and paid in foreign currency. These include services such as accommodation, travel, airport and visa, transit trade and cargo handling, said the statement, adding that tourists and non-residents who pay in foreign currencies must provide their identification documents such as passport and certificate of incorporation for companies for proper capturing and classification of statistics.
The exchange rate which will be used for making payment therein above should be displayed and should not exceed the prevailing market exchange rate, said the statement. “Any resident of the United Republic of Tanzania should use only Tanzanian shillings and not be forced or obliged to make payment to another resident of the United Republic of Tanzania for any good or service in foreign currency,” said the statement.
The statement said the Tanzanian shilling is the only legal tender in the country, adding that any act of refusing payment in Tanzanian shilling amounts to a violation of the Bank of Tanzania Act 2006.
