DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Tanzania’s finance minister cut the country’s GDP forecast for 2017 to 7.1 percent, down from 7.4 percent, as he gave a speech to parliament on Tuesday.

“The gross domestic product is expected to grow by 7.1 percent in 2017 … while inflation will continue to be tamed at single digit levels and is expected to fall to 5.0 percent in 2018,” Minister Philip Mpango said.

He did not offer any explanation for the lower-than-expected growth, which comes as President John Magufuli has fired thousands of civil servants, including many ministers and heads of parastatals, in an anti-corruption drive.

(Reporting by Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala; Editing by Alison Williams)