Bank of Tanzania Rejects Claims of Printing $656 Million

(Bloomberg) -- Bank of Tanzania refuted social-media allegations about printing notes valued at 1.5 trillion shillings ($655.9 million) for the government’s use.

“The central bank informs the public that the statement is incorrect and intends to affect the trust of citizens and international stakeholders on Tanzanian financial stability,” the central bank said in an emailed statement.

The government’s overdraft at the central bank more than tripled to 1.94 trillion shillings in June, from 610 billion shillings in May, the central bank said. In April, the amount stood at 1.55 trillion shillings, it said.

The government can borrow from the central bank to plug funding shortfalls provided the amount is capped at 12.5 percent of the nation’s internal revenue from the previous fiscal year, the regulator said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ken Karuri in Dar es Salaam at kkaruri@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura, Hilton Shone

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