TITLE:
Financial Projections and Acceptability of Earmarked Fuel Levy to Finance Health in Tanzania—A Pilot Study
AUTHORS:
Amani Thomas Mori, Pål Sebastian Vognstølen
KEYWORDS:
Tanzania, Innovative Financing, Six Tax, Fuel Levy, Universal Healthcare
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Economy,
Vol.13 No.6,
June
23,
2022
ABSTRACT:
Fiscal gaps and donor dependency threaten the
progress and sustainability of health programs in developing countries. This
study aims to assess the acceptability and revenue generated from earmarked
fuel levy for health in Tanzania. A survey was conducted in Dar es Salaam region in 2019 using
a structured questionnaire. Survey data and fuel consumption rates were used to
populate a decision-tree model to estimate revenues. The results were subjected
to a one-way sensitivity analysis of plausible changes in key parameters.
Analyses were done in Stata version 16.1 and TreeAge Pro ® 2021.
400 participants were interviewed. 98 percent accepted earmarked fuel levy to
finance health, of which two-thirds were willing to pay not more than 30 TZS
(0.013 USD) per liter. A levy of 10 TZS/liter (0.004 USD) and 30 TZS/liter (0.013
USD) of diesel and petrol will generate 29 billion TZS (12.7 million USD) and
88.2 billion TZS (38.4 million USD), respectively. The fuel levy earmarked for
health has the potential to generate significant revenues to finance healthcare
in Tanzania.