The Bank of Tanzania's monthly economic review for April shows that credit extended to the private sector grew by 22.9 percent in March 2023, higher than the 13.4 percent recorded in the corresponding period in 2022. This growth can be attributed to improvements in the business environment, as well as supportive monetary and fiscal policies. According to financial statements from selected banks, there has been an increase in profitability, with smaller banks recording profits compared to losses in the first three months of last year Stanbic Bank recorded the strongest profit growth, with profits of 18.3bn/- during the first three months of this year compared to 5bn/- in Q1, 2022. The bank also managed to cut impairments on loans and advances to 702mn/- during the first quarter of this year, compared to 4.1bn/- recorded in the same quarter of last year.
People’s Bank of Zanzibar (PBZ) also recorded strong growth, with profitability increasing by 50 percent to 12.1bn/- compared to 8bn/- due to growth in both interest and non-interest incomes. PBZ, which is wholly owned by the government, is also looking to increase its presence in Tanzania mainland by offering both conventional and Sharia-compliant banking services. CRDB Bank, Tanzania's leading bank in terms of assets, reported solid financial performance during the first quarter of this year, posting a gross profit of 133bn/-, representing an annual increase of 3.1 percent. The impressive growth was driven by a strong net interest income of 192bn/-, a 9.7 percent increase from the previous year.
The CEO of CRDB Bank Group, Abdulmajid Nsekela, expressed delight with the performance and intends to maintain the momentum by investing in growth opportunities within the regional investment landscape. Other banks such as NBC Bank, Exim Bank, NCBA Tanzania, Equity Bank Tanzania, Diamond Trust Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, I&M Bank, Akiba Commercial Bank (ACB), Ecobank, and DCB Bank have also reported varying levels of profitability during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. Smaller banks, which were hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, have also started to recover, with many moving from losses to profit.