Dodoma — THE Tanzanian government says it will continue implementing various policy and regulatory measures to enable commercial banks to provide loans at more affordable interest rates, including maintaining monetary policies aimed at controlling inflation.

Deputy Minister for Finance Laurent Luswetula made the statement in Parliament in Dodoma while responding to a question from Mpanda Urban Member of Parliament Haidary Hemed Sumry, who sought to know the government's plans to reduce interest rates on business loans to enable traders to repay their loans on time.

Luswetula said the government does not directly intervene in setting lending interest rates at commercial banks operating in the country. Instead, the rates are determined by market conditions, taking into account factors such as the inflation rate, the risk of loan defaults, the operating costs of individual banks and their targeted profit margins.

"The government continues to take various policy and regulatory measures to enable commercial banks to provide loans at more affordable interest rates. These include continuing to implement monetary policies aimed at controlling inflation, which is one of the key indicators used in calculating and determining the interest rates charged on loans by commercial banks," Luswetula explained.