Tunisia’s share and modes of allocation of funds granted by G8 leaders, who had met on May 26-27 in Deauville, France, “have not yet been set,” said Mr. Mustapha Kamel Nabli, Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT).
During a news conference held on Wednesday, BCT Governor said that talks on the funding to be raised, its sharing between Tunisia and Egypt and conditions for its appropriation will start in the coming weeks.
He added that the meeting of Finance Ministers and Foreign Affairs Ministers of the G8 countries, to be held next July in Brussels, will help set modes of distributing this sum according to the projects and programme submitted by each of Tunisia and Egypt.
It will also identify the final sum and conditions for its allocation, he said.
The G8’s commitment is a forceful signal to the different foreign economic players who are called upon to invest in Tunisia, said Mr. Nabli, specifying that materialisation of these objectives “depends on the success of the democratic transition process.”
The G8 Summit pledged to grant Tunisia and Egypt a financial support of 20 billion dollars throughout the 2011-2013 period. This commitment, funded by international financial institutions (World Bank, European Investment Bank), will be bolstered by bilateral financing of 20 billion dollars from the Western and Gulf countries. The total sum of the raised funds will stand at 40 billion dollars.
Mr. Nabli said that a significant share of foreign funds to be granted Tunisia would be under the shape of loans. “Tunisia is compelled to incur debts to cover the deficit of its payment balance—which is presently estimated at 3.5 billion dollars—and preserve the country’s economic activities,” he said.
In the Deauville G8 Summit, Tunisia had submitted a five-year economic plan that requires investments of 125 billion dollars, 25 billion dollars of which are foreign investments. The basic programme rests essentially on own resources, particularly national savings which are estimated now at 20%.
Tunisia is planning to increase the rate of national savings to 45%, a rate closer to those recorded by emerging countries, and this thanks to the climate of confidence, transparency and democracy that will prevail in the country, BCT Governor said. The Government is also planning to initiate a consultation on this programme which will focus on five essential elements relating to good governance, consolidation of basic infrastructure in regions and development of human resources, in addition to ensuring integration in the global markets and modernising the financial sector.
