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| Dr Sezibera |
The East African Community (EAC) is expected to enter into monetary
union chapter before end of the year to pave the way for a roadmap for
attaining the bloc’s single currency.
The EAC Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera, told the 'Daily News'
in Dar es Salaam mid this week that the monetary union would be executed in
phases until it has reached its summit just like the custom union which has
been instituted in the past ten years.
“Partner states are committed and are still negotiating the monetary
union, prior for the signing before end of the year,” Dr Sezibera said.
He said the signing would see the stage for the implementation of the
monetary union’s roadmap, which is in phases, until all necessary macroeconomic
fundamentals are converging to warrant a single currency.
The signing is drafted for December.
“We are not rushing to single currency before putting our house in
order…the single currency will come but at a later date,” Dr Sezibera said.Last
month economists urged the EAC to take time before setting up a monetary union
to avoid any future crisis, similar to the ongoing Euro zone currency
difficulties.
However, he said that the Euro zone crisis helped the EAC to seal the
weak points which in turn strengthened and shaped the bloc’s union.
Apart from the ongoing negotiations of the protocol, the member states
have intensified preparations for the crucial harmonization of monetary and
exchange rate policies, payment and settlement system, and regionalization of
the financial sector in order to create a single financial market, plus a
fiscal union.
In last month’s meeting sponsored by the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA) and co-hosted by the Secretariat of the EAC and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Arusha, the regional policymakers
reaffirmed their vision for building a strong economic base.
Dr Sezibera said in a press
statement issued by IMF that the EAC is eager to build on the experience of
Euro zone countries and other regions in designing the monetary union.
IMF Deputy Managing Director Mr Naoyuki Shinohara said good progress in
regional integration has been made through the launch of customs union and
common market projects.
“A critical question relates to the appropriate pace for moving beyond
a common market to monetary union. Certainly, good progress in implementing the
customs union and common market will strengthen prospects for a successful
monetary union,” he said in the statement.
The EAC currently has a population of about 150 million people with a
combined Gross Domestic Product of 74 billion US dollars (about 118.4trn/-).
Source: The Daily News,www.dailynews.co.tz, reported by Abduel Elinaza
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